Another 1.5 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
Although initial jobless claims have been falling every week since peaking at 6.9 million in the last week of March, millions of people remain reliant on government aid to make ends meet since the pandemic eliminated their jobs.
Continuing claims, counting the people who have applied for unemployment benefits for at least two weeks in a row, declined to 20.9 million, compared with last week’s reported 21.3 million.
Economists have began focusing on continued claims as a better indicator of the state of the labor market last month, as many states began reopening their economies.
This is a developing story. It will be updated
