Number of Americans seeking unemployment aid is rising

Updated on: September 10, 2020 / 10:13 PM.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment assistance rose in the first week of September, a signal of the labor market is losing speed as the economy continues to suffer from the effects of the coronavirus.

Just over 857,000 workers applied for first-time unemployment aid in the week ending September 5, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Nearly 839,000 additional Americans applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a new federal program for self-employed workers.

Including people who were collecting extended unemployment benefits, some 29 million Americans — about one in five of workers in the labor force — were receiving jobless aid in the week ended August 22.

That number rose 380,000 from the previous week.

First published on September 10, 2020 / 8:48 AM.