Jobless claims edge down to 1M as labor market struggles to make up pandemic losses
by Joseph Lawler, Policy Editor |
| August 27, 2020 08:31 AM
New applications for unemployment benefits dipped slightly to 1 million last week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday, right in line with forecasters' expectations.
Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, have been hovering near the 1 million mark in recent weeks. That rate is much less than the 7 million claims in one week in late March, but still far higher than the rate seen before the pandemic hit, which was around the low-200,000s.
The Labor Department said that an additional 607,806 workers filed for benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, created by Congress as part of the March CARES Act relief bill to provide aid to people facing losses of work because of the pandemic, such as gig workers who'd lost customers.
The economy cannot afford to lose a million jobs a week and still return quickly to the pre-pandemic normal.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/jobless-claims-edge-down-to-1-million
