Jobless claims: Another 1.106 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week

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The number of individuals filing new unemployment insurance claims rose back above 1 million last week, reflecting a still-elevated level of joblessness in the US.

The Labor Department released its report on weekly unemployment insurance claims Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the report, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

  • Initial jobless claims, week ended Aug. 15: 1.106 million vs. 920,000 expected vs. 963,000 during the prior week

  • Continuing claims, week ended Aug. 8: 14.844 million vs. 15 million expected vs. 15.486 million during the prior week

The report reflected the first increase in new jobless claims following back-to-back weeks of decreases.

New unemployment claims jumped back above their lowest level since the escalation of the pandemic in the US in March during the week ended August 8. And the total was well above the pre-pandemic record high of 665,000 from March 2009 during the Global Financial Crisis and reflected another more than one-million individuals newly filing for unemployment insurance as the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt businesses large and small across the country. Before the coronavirus, new weekly jobless claims were coming in consistently below 250,000.

Continuing jobless claims, reported on a one-week lag, were also expected to have improved for the week ended Aug 8. The level of continuing jobless claims came in at the lowest level since the start of the pandemic but held well above the fewer than 1.8 million continuing claims filed weekly in the months preceding the pandemic.

A temporary work agency for job seekers is seen in Southwest Detroit, Michigan April 3, 2009. The U.S. unemployment rate soared to 8.5% last month, a 25-year high, as employers slashed 663.000 jobs and cut workers' hours to the lowest level on record, the government said on Friday. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook (UNITED STATES BUSINESS POLITICS)
A temporary work agency for job seekers is seen in Southwest Detroit, Michigan April 3, 2009. The U.S. unemployment rate soared to 8.5% last month, a 25-year high, as employers slashed 663.000 jobs and cut workers' hours to the lowest level on record, the government said on Friday. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook (UNITED STATES BUSINESS POLITICS)

Importantly, Thursday’s jobless claims report marked the first after the Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) stopped accepting applications on Aug. 8. The program had been a key source of support for many small businesses in helping keep employees on their payrolls during the pandemic period.

The report also represented one of the first few following the end-of-July lapse in enhanced federal unemployment insurance benefits, which had previously been set at $600 per week. President Donald Trump recently authorized a federal boost of $300-per-week in jobless benefits via executive measure, though the program so far has only been approved in a handful of states, and could see funds dry up within weeks.

“Trump’s executive actions did not cover PPP and, with Congress remaining gridlocked on phase four [of discussions for another stimulus package], failure to extend support remains a downside risk for the labor market in August,” Nomura economist Lewis Alexander said in a note Friday.


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