美国劳工部说，新申请失业救济的人数在上星期增多， 逆转了之前申请失业救济人数下降的局面。
周四的报告表示，截止到这个星期7月17号为止，新申请失业救济的人数增多了三万七千人，总人数为46万4千人。该报告还说，一些继续领取失业救济金的人数略微下降到450万人。
美国央行行长联邦储备委员会主席伯南克星期三告诉国会议员说，对于世界上最大经济体美国的前景现在还“非常不确定，”因为疲软的就业市场限制了消费支出，而消费支出是拉动美国经济的关键因素。
伯南克还警告说，可能还需要很长一段时间来恢复在经济衰退时期失去的八百万个就业机会。
伯南克表示，央行应该继续把美国的关键利率保持在零利率的水平上，这样可以帮助带动经济增长，并且美联储已经作好准备，在必要时采取额外行动。但是他还表示，美联储剩下的选择都有潜在缺陷。
The U.S. Labor Department says the number of new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, reversing a decline in new claims from the week before.
Thursday's report said new jobless claims increased by 37,000 to 464,000 in the week ending July 17. The report also said the number of people who continue to receive unemployment benefits fell slightly, to about 4.5 million.
On Wednesday, the head of the U.S. central bank told lawmakers that the outlook for the world's biggest economy is "unusually uncertain," hurt by a weak job market that has limited consumer spending, which is a key driver of the U.S. economy.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also warned it will likely take a "significant amount of time" to restore the more than eight million jobs lost during the recession.
Bernanke said the central bank would continue to keep the country's key interest rate near zero percent in an effort to help spark economic growth and that the Fed is ready to take additional actions if necessary. But he also said all of the Fed's remaining options come with potential drawbacks.
