U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Fell to 1.5 Million Last Week

The number of people seeking and receiving unemployment benefits fell, signs the labor market continues to mend.

The ranks of Americans drawing unemployment benefits declined slightly in the week ended May 30 to 20.9 million, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Though states continue to work through a backlog of claims, new applications for unemployment benefits have trended down since the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns triggered a surge in claims at the end of March. About 1.5 million applications were filed last week, compared with a peak of nearly 7...