JOBLESS REPORT

U.S. weekly jobless claims shoot up to 542,000 By Robert Schroeder Last update: 8:30 a.m. EST Nov. 20, 2008Comments: 2 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Weekly U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 27,000 to 542,000 in the week ending Nov. 15, the highest since July 1992, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of initial claims climbed by 15,750 to 506,500, the highest since January 1983. Continuing jobless claims rose by 109,000 to 4.01 million in the week ending Nov. 8 and the four-week average of continuing claims rose by 71,250 to 3.86 million. The insured unemployment rate climbed to 3.0%