Jobless claims hit 9-year high

Thursday, Sept. 27, 2001 | 10:41 a.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department today said new claims for state unemployment insurance jumped last week by 58,000 to 450,000, the highest level since July 25, 1992. The increase was in part attributed to layoffs and job dislocations stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Even before those attacks, jobless claims had been high as the more than yearlong economic slowdown cut into businesses' demand for labor, especially for factory workers.

Separately, the Commerce Department said orders to American factories for big-ticket manufactured goods edged down in August, the third straight monthly decline.

The agency said orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, fell by 0.3 percent.

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