Economics
U.S. Job Losses Persist as Claims Come In Higher Than Forecasts
- Continuing claims, pandemic assistance claims also increase
- Initial state filings were unchanged at 884,000 last week
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Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits held steady last week, a sign extensive job losses are persisting as the nation struggles to control the coronavirus.
Initial jobless claims in regular state programs were unchanged at 884,000 in the week ended Sept. 5, Labor Department data showed Thursday. Due to a change in the methodology for seasonal adjustment earlier this month, the figure is directly comparable only to the prior week. Continuing claims -- the total number of Americans claiming ongoing unemployment assistance in those programs -- rose 93,000 to 13.4 million in the week ended Aug. 29.