NEW YORK - November 13, 2008 - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment insurance last week surged to the highest levels since the wake of the events of September 11, 2001, and the number of people continuing to collect benefits rose to a 25-year high, the government said Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial filings for state jobless benefits reached 516,000 for the week ended November 8. That's the highest total since the week ended September 29, 2001, when 517,000 initial claims were filed.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected 479,000 claims. This week, jobless filings increased by 32,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 484,000. Last year at this time, the figure stood at 338,000.

The report is troubling because many economists expected jobless claims to hold from the week prior, according to Andrew Gledhill, economist at Moody's Economy.com.

"The labor market is deteriorating more rapidly than previously thought," he said.

Ed. Note: Remember that the official numbers are always skewed.  The actual figures are much higher than the government will admit, because the government lies!!