More than 600,000 Americans filed claims for jobless benefits for a fifth straight week, the worst performance since 1982, pointing to a deteriorating job market that may deepen the spending slump.

The Labor Department reported 639,000 first-time unemployment applications, the fifth straight week above 600,000. The agency also said worker productivity, a measure of employee output per hour, fell at a 0.4 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008. Separate data showed factory orders slumped.

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*…worst performance since 1982. 1982 – that’s when I couldn’t find a job and enlisted in the Army…*