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The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all-time record, the government said Thursday, as layoffs spread throughout the economy.

The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest on records dating back to 1967.

A department analyst said that as a proportion of the work force, the tally of unemployment recipients is the highest since August 1983.

The total released by the department doesn't include about 1.7 million people receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program authorized by Congress last summer. That means the total number of recipients is actually closer to 6.5 million people.

Meanwhile, the tally of Americans filing new jobless benefit claims rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted 588,000 last week, from a downwardly revised figure of 585,000 the previous week.

That's close to the 26-year high of 589,000 reached in late December, though the labor force has grown by about half since then.

The Labor Department's report comes as large corporations from virtually all sectors of the economy are announcing massive layoffs.

Benefits for Social Security recipients and many federal government retirees will increase by 5.8 percent next year, the largest cost-of-living adjustment in a quarter-century, following a year of rising food and energy prices.

Although energy costs and inflation generally have been coming down in recent months -- prices fell by 0.1 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, the government said today -- the annual COLA is based on the consumer price index from July through September, compared with the same in the prior year. Record high oil prices, which touched $140 a barrel over the summer, have been accumulating in price indexes through the year, and are built into the comparison the Social Security Administration used to establish the cost-of-living increase.

The result: the largest increase since 1982, when benefits grew by 7.4 percent in the aftermath of the oil price shock that followed the Iranian revolution.

This year's 5.8 percent increase will take effect in January for about 50 million people who receive Social Security benefits, and at the end of this year for the 7 million recipients of Supplemental Security Income. For the average Social Security recipient that will translate into an extra $63 a month, with benefits rising from $1,090 to $1,153.

The amount of income taxable in 2009 for purposes of Social Security will also increase, from $102,000 to $106,800.

The Social Security COLA forms the basis as well for increases in several federal pension formulas.

For the approximately 1.5 million people who retired under the old Civil Service Retirement System, benefits will rise by the full 5.8 percent. The same increase will apply to roughly 2 million military retirees and about 12,000 retired Foreign Service officers.

Retirees under the more recent Federal Employees Retirement System will receive a 4.8 percent increase, according to information on the Office of Personnel Management Web site.

All FERS retirees receive Social Security benefits, while only some CSRS retirees do.

Last year's COLA of 2.3 percent came on the heels of a period of low inflation and was the smallest since 2004, prompting complaints from some retiree groups.

Although annuities for federal retirees will increase next year by the highest amount in a quarter-century, the president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) remains concerned that rising prices will outstrip the increase in benefits. NARFE also is concerned that the high COLA could cause federal budget makers to consider cutting back retiree benefits.

"Federal retirees should not have to worry that today's COLA could come at the detriment of their future retirement income," NARFE President Margaret L. Baptiste said. "NARFE along with federal employees, retirees, and survivors will be watching the next president and upcoming Congress closely to ensure they honor promises made to those who have and continue to serve our country."