US government data shows new jobless claims have jumped by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 627,000 due to layoffs related to the end of the school year.

The Labor Department figures show the number of those filing first-time claims for jobless benefits increased despite signs of recovery in the recession-hit US economy.

The report says continued claims for receiving jobless insurance increased by 29,000 to 6.74 million in the week ending June 13.

Official figures indicate that a growing number of teachers, cafeteria workers and other school employees have joined the line of unemployed people.

On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama warned that unemployment would reach a double-digit figure despite the approval of a $787-billion stimulus plan early this year.

Obama told a White House news conference that his administration would propose no new stimulus package in the face of the deepening recession.

The US unemployment rate hit a 25-year high of 9.4 percent in May, while the Obama administration has predicted the figure to be no more than 8 percent by the end of 2009.

“I think it’s pretty clear now that unemployment will end up going over 10 percent,” AFP quoted Obama as saying.

The president predicted “a difficult, difficult year” for Americans, saying, “We’re still not at actual recovery yet.”

Although the economic downturn is expected to fade away by late summer, experts believe that unemployment will stay high well into the next year and will not return quickly to the pre-recession levels of around 5 percent.