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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993                   TAG: 9304020211
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

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JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMP; BLAME IT ON THE BLIZZARD

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits shot up 33,000 in late March to the highest level in more than four months, the Labor Department said Thursday.

New applications for unemployment insurance during the week ended March 27 totaled 380,000, the most since 382,000 claims were filed during the week ended Nov. 7.

Economists at Mitsubishi Bank in New York noted that storms in mid-March caused parts shortages in some areas, which in turn triggered plant closings later in the month.

Before the latest reporting week, the number of claims had fallen for three consecutive weeks, to 347,000 during the week ended March 20.

The four-week moving average of new claims, considered a more reliable measure of job trends because it smooths out the volatility of the weekly numbers, also moved up, to 360,500 from 359,500 in the period ending a week earlier.

States with the largest increases were Pennsylvania, 1,847; Michigan, 1,279; Virginia, 1,252; Maryland, 996; and Connecticut, 802. Virginia attributed its gain to layoffs in the chemical, defense, textile, apparel, construction and transportation industries. - Associated Press

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