Unemployment aid applications stuck at high levels

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits hardly changed for a second straight week, stuck at a high level that points to a slowing job market.

Weekly unemployment benefit applications ticked up 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 427,000 last week, the Labor Department said.

It marked the ninth straight week in which applications have been above 400,000. That trend represents a setback after applications had been declining all winter.

Applications had fallen in February to 375,000, a level that signals sustainable job growth. They stayed below 400,000 for seven of nine weeks. But applications surged in April to 478,000 — an eight-month high — and they have been stuck above 400,000 since then.

The growth in unemployment benefit applications is one of many signs that the economy has faltered from earlier this year, when hiring was picking up and many economists expected growth to accelerate.