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U.S. new weekly jobless claims seen falling below 2 million

U.S. new weekly jobless claims seen falling below 2 million

U.S. new weekly jobless claims seen falling below 2 million
Jun 04, 2020 1 min, 2 secs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits likely dropped below 2 million last week for the first time since mid-March, but remains astonishingly high as companies adjust to an environment that has been significantly changed by COVID-19.

New claims for state unemployment benefits likely totaled a seasonally adjusted 1.8 million for the week ended May 30, down from 2.123 million the prior week, according to a Reuters survey of economists.

The weekly jobless claims report is the most timely data on the economy’s health, but it could become difficult to get a clear picture of the labor market in the weeks ahead.

Initial claims are recorded when a person submits a first application for unemployment benefits.

The government also extended regular state jobless benefits by another 13 weeks under a program called Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC).

“Many commentators are reporting the cumulative number of initial regular state UI claims over the last 10 weeks as a measure of how many people have applied for UI in this pandemic,” said Heidi Shierholz, a former chief economist at the Labor Department.

Continuing claims, the number of people still receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, dropped 3.860 million to 21.052 million in the week ending May 16.

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