New applications for unemployment benefits remained well below the recent peak of about 7 million in March but are far higher than pre-pandemic levels of about 200,000 claims per week.
The number of people collecting unemployment benefits through regular state programs, which cover most workers, ticked down to about 14.5 million for the week ended Aug. 15, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
“We’re chipping away at the losses in terms of the number of jobs and some of the weaknesses there, but there’s still a long ways to go,” said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department revised its estimate of second quarter economic growth, saying gross domestic product fell at a 31.7% annual rate, slightly less than its earlier estimate of 32.9%, due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
