Another indicator that Congress needs to get to work on the country’s pressing unemployment problem came in the form of a Labor Department report showing a spike in the number of first-time filers for unemployment benefits last week, according to The Associated Press.

AP via The Miami Herald:

The rise is the fourth in the past five weeks. Most economists hoped that claims would resume a downward trend that was evident in the fall and early winter.

The Labor Department said Thursday that new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 480,000. Wall Street economists had expected a drop to 460,000, according to Thomson Reuters.

The four-week average, which smooths fluctuations, rose for the third straight week to 468,750.

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