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Hundreds of thousands of Americans filed for unemployment insurance last week as coronavirus-driven layoffs persisted. But the figures weren’t as dire as experts expected.
New US weekly jobless claims totaled an unadjusted 881,000 for the week that ended Saturday, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That came in below the consensus economist estimate of 950,000 compiled by Bloomberg.
Continuing claims, which represent the aggregate total of people receiving unemployment benefits, came in at 13.3 million for the week that ended August 22, a decline from the prior period’s revised number.
In under six months, the more than 59 million unemployment claims filed during the coronavirus pandemic have far surpassed the 37 million during the 18-month Great Recession. The latest figure still exceeds the 665,000 filed during the Great Recession's worst week.
This week was the first in which the Labor Department changed the way it seasonally adjusts the weekly claims numbers.
While the change in methodology is meant to make the weekly reports more accurate, using the seasonally adjusted figures going forward would complicate comparisons to previous releases, which is why Business Insider reported the unadjusted number.
Despite the better-than-expected figures Thursday, jobless claims remain stubbornly high. Economists expect that the August jobs report - due Friday - will show that the US economy added jobs on net but at a slower rate on a month-over-month basis.
Recent data underscores that the economy may need more stimulus to speed its recovery. Still, Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked on the details of the next coronavirus pandemic bill - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi renewed talks around the package Tuesday but remain at odds, The Hill reported.
At the end of July, a $600 increase to weekly employment benefits expired, slashing income for millions of out-of-work Americans. President Donald Trump in August signed an executive order extending a $300 weekly federal benefit with an additional $100 from states. While 40 states have been approved to give unemployed workers the benefit, it may last only a few weeks.
In addition, the Paycheck Protection Program expired at the end of August, putting millions of small businesses in jeopardy.