THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE filing initial unemployment claims fell slightly last week but remained above 1 million as layoffs continue amid the pandemic-induced recession.
Just over 1 million people filed for jobless claims, a dip of 98,000 from the previous week, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.
Weekly claims have remained above 1 million for five months, with one exception at the beginning of August when the figure dipped slightly below that mark. Claims have largely plateaued in the last several weeks after steadily declining from a peak of nearly 7 million in March.
The figures are unprecedented. The pre-pandemic record for jobless claims sat just shy of 700,000.
The number of people collecting unemployment benefits fell to 14.5 million last week, a decline of 223,000 from the previous week, according to the data – a signal that some employers are bringing workers back.
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