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The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits suggests hiring is slowing. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dipped last week by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 386,000. But that was only after the department revised up the previous week's data to show 8,000 more people applied for benefits than first estimated.

The number of Americans filing for jobless aid rose last week to the highest level since January, a development that could raise fears the labor market recovery was stalling after job creation slowed in March.

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a fresh four-year low last week, according to a government report on Thursday that offered evidence the jobs market recovery was gaining traction.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 377,000, after a nearly four-year low the previous week.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nine months, evidence that the job market is improving.

Republican officials say legislation being drafted in the House would renew an expiring program of unemployment benefits at a time of 9 percent joblessness. The measure also would extend a Social Security payroll tax cut. Both are due to expire at the end of the year. The officials say the cost of provisions will be offset to avoid increasing the deficit.

The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits....

While the unemployment rate dipped to 9 percent, the improvement was seen as mediocre.

Call it the recession's lost generation. In record numbers, they're struggling to find work, shunning long-distance moves to live with mom and dad, delaying marriage and raising kids out of wedlock, if they're becoming parents at all. The unemployment rate for them is the highest since World War II, and they risk living in poverty more than others - nearly 1 in 5.

The U.S. Postal Service would eliminate about 220,000 full-time jobs and shutter about 300 processing facilities by 2015 under a proposal to bring its finances in order, a postal official said on Friday.