According to a government report the number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose 7,000 last week. Initial jobless claims rose to 325,000 in the week ended Jan. 22 from a revised 318,000 in the previous week. This was a smaller gain than that expected by Wall Street, and the Labor Department said there were no special factors behind the rise in new claims.
See "Jobless Claims Post Small Rise", The New York Times, January 26, 2005