Jan. 23 (UPI) -- The number of people filing unemployment benefits for the first time grew to a seasonally adjusted 223,000 last week, the highest one-week total in more than a month, according to Labor Department figures released on Thursday.
The figure for the week ending Jan. 18 was 6,000 higher than the previous week's unrevised total of 217,000. It was the most since the week ending Dec. 7, when 242,000 applied for weekly unemployment insurance for the first time.