No break in rising unemployment as continuing claims hit record 5.73 million

Yet another record the U.S. labor market would rather not achieve: Continuing claims for unemployment benefits jumped 161,000 to a record 5.73 million, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday. More Americans are finding it hard to find jobs amidst the nation's worst recession since the 1980s.

Meanwhile, initial jobless claims increased 12,000 to 669,000 for the week ending March 28, the Labor Department said. That is the country's highest initial jobless claims total since the aforementioned Reagan administration-era recession in 1982. Initial jobless claims have now risen 72 percent from the same period a year ago.