WASHINGTON — Weekly jobless claims surged to the highest level in seven years, durable goods orders took a bigger-than-expected tumble and new home sales plunged to the slowest pace in 17 years, according to government data released Thursday.

The Labor Department reported that jobless claims jumped by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 493,000 last week, the highest level since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and far above what economists had been expecting.

Labor Department analysts said that Hurricanes Ike and Gustav added about 50,000 claims, but even discounting the adverse impact from job disruptions in Louisiana and Texas, the four-week average for claims rose to 445,000, the highest it has been since November 2001, the month the last recession ended.

In a second report, the Commerce Department said that new orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell by 4.5 percent last month

The average price of a new home fell in August by 11.8 percent to $263,900, the biggest one-month drop on record. The median home price was down 5.5 percent to $221,900.