WASHINGTON: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits hovered at high levels last week, suggesting the labour market recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic was stalling. The weekly jobless claims report from the Labour Department on Thursday, the most timely data on the economy's health, followed news last Friday of a further slowdown in employment growth in August and an increase in permanent job losses.
The ebb in momentum comes as government financial aid to businesses and the unemployed has virtually dried up, and talks for another package were going nowhere. At least 29.6 million people were on unemployment benefits in August.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 884,000 for the week ended Sept. 5. Claims dropped from about 1 million the prior week after the government changed the methodology it used to address seasonal fluctuations in the data, which had become less reliable given the economic shock from the coronavirus crisis.
Unadjusted initial claims increased 20,140 to 857,148 last week. A total 838,916 applications were received for the government-funded pandemic unemployment assistance last week.
The claims report also showed the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid increased 93,000 to 13.4 million in the week ending Aug. 29. Though the so-called continuing claims were likely boosted by California's bi-weekly filing system, the rise fit in with a slowing labour market.