US Weekly Jobless Claims Hit , New Pandemic-Era Low.
The Labor Department reported a
total of 348,000 jobless claims for
the week that ended on Aug. 14.
The number is down 29,000 from
the previous week and less than
the Dow Jones estimate of 365,000.
Ongoing claims fell to 2.82 million,
which is also a new pandemic-era low.
First-time filings for unemployment
insurance hit a new low, despite
worries over the delta variant.
The last time claims were this
low was Mar. 14, 2020, just as
the COVID-19 pandemic
declaration was announced.
Despite the new low, the jobs gap remains large,
with six million fewer Americans being considered employed now than prior to the pandemic.
Economists suspect a number of reasons for this, including many workers pushing for extra protections
as a result of the ongoing pandemic.
As a result, wages have been increasing with average hourly wages up 4% year over year in July