The number of Americans seeking

unemployment benefits declined last week to

a still-high 837,000, evidence that the economy

is struggling to sustain a tentative recovery that

began this summer.

The Labor Department’s report, released

Thursday, suggests that companies are still

cutting a historically high number of jobs,

though the weekly numbers have become less

reliable as states have increased their efforts to

root out fraudulent claims and process earlier

applications that have piled up.

California, for example, which accounts for more

than one-quarter of the nation’s aid applications,

this week simply provided the same figure it

did the previous week. That’s because the state

has stopped accepting new jobless claims

US LAYOFFS

REMAIN ELEVATED

AS 837,000 SEEK

JOBLESS AID