Unemployment Claims
Weekly claims were 200,000 higher than expected last week at 1.57 million, and if we include the self-employed receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the number increases to 2.2 million. That is virtually unchanged from the week before. Notable is the fact that the number of workers applying for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance rose to 760,000, bringing the total close to ten million.
The greater concern is that those continuing to receive unemployment benefits is not declining, despite the 2.5 million that returned to work, based on the most recent jobs report. Jobs are being lost