US jobless claims rise again to 1.43m as total number of claimants tops 30m
US jobless claims rose for the second consecutive week, as 1.43m more people filed for benefits last week, the Labor Department said.
The figure is some 12,000 applications higher than the previous week, which in turn saw the first rise in claimants for almost four months.
More than 1.4m Americans made a new jobless claim in that period, up 109,000 from the week before.
It was worse than economists had expected and was the first rise since the week ending 28 March, when claims peaked at an astonishing 6.8m.
In total over 30.2m people claimed benefits of every kind last week, a decrease of 1.6m from the week before.
By comparison, in the same week last year a little over 1.7m people filed for benefits, the Labor Department said.
The US economy suffered its biggest crash on record in the second quarter as coronavirus ripped through the economy, with GDP plunging 32.9 per cent according to an advance estimate.
Coronavirus infections also continue to rise with the US nearing 4.5m infections and a number of states consistently setting new records for new infections.
Lawmakers on Washington’s Capitol Hill are meeting with officials from President Donald Trump’s administration today in the hope of reaching an agreement to extend coronavirus aid before a Friday deadline.
Tomorrow, a $600-per-week supplemental unemployment benefit, which has served as a lifeline for tens of millions of Americans left jobless by the health crisis, expires.
A federal moratorium that prevented evictions ended last Friday, leaving an untold number of Americans at risk of losing their homes.