In the week ending Sept. 27, 497,000 Americans filed their initial claims for unemployment insurance, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
That’s an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 496,000. The department estimates that the effects of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and the effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas added about 45,000 claims to the total. The 4-week moving average was 474,000, an increase of 11,500 from the previous week.
