Hurricane Harvey spikes US jobless aid applications to 298K

In this Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, photo, flyers advertise jobs for Verizon during a job fair in San Jose, Calif. On Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits a week earlier. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) In this Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, photo, flyers advertise jobs for Verizon during a job fair in San Jose, Calif. On Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits a week earlier. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Associated Press September 7, 2017 2 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits soared last week by the most in nearly five years, driven by Hurricane Harvey’s impact on Texas and Louisiana.

THE NUMBERS: Weekly applications for jobless aid jumped 62,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000, reaching the highest level in two years, the Labor Department said Thursday. The less volatile four-week average rose to 250,250.

Applications soared by more than 51,000 in Texas, a five-fold increase, and ticked up 258 in Louisiana.

The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits slipped 5,000 to 1.94 million. That’s nearly 10 percent lower than a year earlier.

THE TAKEAWAY: Americans who have lost jobs through no fault of their own can seek unemployment aid. Natural disasters can frequently cause spikes. Superstorm Sandy drove the last huge increase in applications in 2012.