U.S. states saw slightly fewer Americans file for new jobless claims last week as during the prior week, as spiking COVID-19 cases and new restrictions drove additional individuals out of work.
The Department of Labor released its weekly report on new jobless claims Wednesday morning and here were the main results in the report, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:
Initial jobless claims, week ended Dec. 19: 803,000 vs. 880,000 expected, and a revised 892,000 during the prior week
Continuing claims, week ended Dec. 12: 5.3 million vs. 5.6 million expected and a revised 5.5 million during the prior week
Though initial unemployment claims improved more than anticipated last week, claims are still coming in at historically elevated levels. New jobless claims have now held above the 800,000 level for three consecutive weeks, following a stretch of nearly two months of new claims below that level. And while new jobless claims have decreased significantly from the pandemic-era high of 6.9 million in March, they are still coming in at about four times the pre-COVID pace of just over 200,000 each week.
Click here to read the full story from Emily McCormick at Yahoo Finance.
