Initial claims for jobless benefits rose to 500,000 in mid-April

Applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. unexpectedly increased last week to the highest level since November, showing companies are stepping up the pace of firings as the economy slows.

Initial jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 500,000 in the week ended Aug. 14, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Claims exceeded all estimates of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and compared with the median forecast of 478,000. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance fell, while those getting extended benefits increased.

A cooling economy may be discouraging employers from adding staff and prompting some to step up dismissals, raising the risk consumer spending will weaken more. The Federal Reserve said last week that the recovery would probably be “more modest” than anticipated, reflecting in part a jobless rate that’s restraining incomes.

“We’re seeing a renewed pickup in layoffs,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “If firms aren’t hiring it’s probably because they’re not producing. Demand will slow in the third quarter.”

Stock-index futures fell after the report, erasing earlier gains. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring next month dropped 0.3 percent to 1,083.6 at 8:43 a.m. in New York.

Estimates of the 42 economists surveyed by Bloomberg ranged from 460,000 to 495,000. The government revised the prior week’s claims figure to 488,000 from a previously reported 484,000. Initial filings last week were the highest since the week ended Nov. 14, 2009.