Nearly a Million Americans Filed for First-Time Unemployment Benefits Last Week Alone

840,000 Americans filed for first time unemployment benefits last week – worse than the 820k expectation, but slightly better than the upwardly revised 849k the priod week.

 

This is still over four times higher than the pre-COVID levels.

We also note that while aggregate jobless claims fell, Pandemic Emergency Claims (blue region) increased last week…

Florida, Illinois, and Virginia saw the biggest jump in jobless claims. New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania saw the biggest improvement.

 

Continuing Claims dropped back below 11 million – the lowest (best level since March)…