Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell last week, signaling that job cuts may be easing after rising in December and early January.
Initial jobless claims in regular state programs fell by 67,000 to 847,000 in the week ended Jan. 23, Labor Department data showed Thursday. On an unadjusted basis, initial jobless claims dropped to 873,966.
Continuing claims -- an estimate of the number of Americans filing for ongoing unemployment benefits -- dropped by 203,000 to 4.77 million in the week ended Jan. 16. Bloomberg’s survey of economists had called for 875,000 initial claims and 5.09 million continuing claims.
Despite the decline, the initial claims figure is still more than four times pre-pandemic levels, underscoring the impact on employment from pandemic-related business shutdowns. Job cuts aren’t likely to drop significantly until widespread inoculations allow services like restaurants to fully reopen.
California this week
