Washington ? The number of U.S. workers filing claims for jobless benefits increased to the second-highest level of the year last week.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for jobless benefits rose by a seasonally adjusted 30,000 to 442,000 for the work week ending April 12.

That increase pushed claims to their highest point since March 29, when claims hit 443,000, the highest level of the year.

For nine straight weeks, claims have been above the 400,000 mark, a level associated with a stagnant job market. Thursday’s figures were weaker than economists were expecting.

“It’s depressing,” said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services. “The economy is in a precarious state right now.”

Businesses coping with lackluster profits and uneven demand from customers have been trying to keep a lid on costs. Against that backdrop, companies have been reluctant to increase capital spending and go on a hiring spree, major forces restraining the economy’s recovery.

But on Wall Street, stocks moved higher despite a murky corporate outlook and the disappointing jobless claims report.

Some of the rise in claims last week was attributed to layoffs in the automobile industry, a Labor Department analyst said.

Paul Taylor, chief economist at the National Automobile Dealers Assn., said that some auto makers are curbing production to work off inventories of unsold vehicles, which began to pile up as demand slackened.

The more stable, four-week moving average of initial jobless claims also rose last week by 3,500 to 424,750, the highest level in nearly a year.

“People who have a job are probably nervous about keeping it because the economy is in fragile shape,” said Clifford Waldman, economist at the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI.

Economists believe the unemployment rate — now at 5.8 percent — is likely to rise in the months ahead.