Department Store Sales Jump, but So Do Jobless Claims : Economy: Bargain prices lure shoppers in July. Last week’s surge in applications for unemployment benefits is the biggest since the 1981-82 recession.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 69,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, while some of the nation’s biggest retailers posted good sales gains for July as bargains attracted shoppers.

Government economists said the increase in unemployment claims, the largest since the depths of the 1981-82 recession, was skewed by a planned two-week shutdown of General Motors plants.

A total of 469,000 people filed for unemployment during the week ending July 25, the Labor Department said, compared to 400,000 the previous week.

Economists and state officials agree that the surge in layoffs was caused mainly by the long-scheduled temporary closure of General Motors plants across the country and does not necessarily signal a downturn in the economy.

“Everything that has happened is accounted for by auto industry layoffs,” said Michael Penzer, an economist with Bank of America. “Since all these people have already gone back to work, there is no long-term impact. Essentially, it’s sort of steady as she goes.”

Still, the jobless figure is another piece of bad economic news for the Bush campaign. Administration officials are finding it harder to make the case that a recovery is on the horizon.

Nearly 60,000 of the jobless claims were filed in Ohio, Indiana and New York, which along with Michigan account for up to 90% of General Motors’ jobs. Layoffs in Michigan are not reflected in the figures because the state has not yet processed unemployment claims for that week.

Because they occurred at the end of the month, the temporary layoffs of General Motors workers will not figure in the July unemployment numbers scheduled for release today.

The number of new jobless claims in California decreased by nearly 2,000 last week. Yet the state still had the fourth-highest unemployment rate, behind Puerto Rico, Rhode Island and Alaska. It also had the largest number of continuing claims filed under a separate emergency unemployment compensation program for the week ending July 18.

California experienced a jump in unemployment claims following the Los Angeles riots, according to economist David Wyss of DRI/McGraw Hill, but the effects of the riots are easing as time goes on. “We had an artificially bad period, but now we’re coming back toward normal,” he said.

Retail sales analysts said consumers continue to exhibit caution, spending only on the right merchandise at the right price.

However, “the numbers came out fairly strong industry-wide,” Janet Mangano, a retailing analyst with Burnham Securities Inc., said of the July sales figures. She noted that many of the gains were due to clearance sales.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J. C. Penney Co. posted some of the strongest gains, while department stores showed continued signs of improvement.

But Sears, Roebuck & Co. reported a drop in business, due partly to cool weather that has sliced into sales of seasonal items like air conditioners. And apparel retailer Limited Inc. continued to struggle.

Retailers found consumers willing to shop--if there’s a “sale” sign.

At Macy’s in the Willowbrook Mall in northern New Jersey, for example, it was as crowded during the first weekend of a fall preseason sale--which began in mid-July--as it was at Christmas.

The company, which has been operating under protection from creditors since January, will announce July results in September, when they are given to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Clearance sales of spring and summer merchandise were a big draw at other retailers. “People wait for the sales, and the people know that there are clearances,” said Walter Loeb, a retailing analyst and consultant.

Associated Press contributed to this story.