Unemployment Claims Level Off as New Job Losses Offset by Hiring

The number of Americans receiving continuing unemployment benefits has held near 20 million in recent weeks

The number of workers seeking new unemployment benefits has plateaued at a historically high level, showing that many Americans are still losing their jobs amid a broadly healing labor market.

Weekly jobless benefit applications, historically a proxy for layoffs, have held between 1 million and 2 million since late May, and economists expect the figure will remain in that range again for the week ended July 4. The Labor Department will release fresh data at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.

The level of new claims has eased from the 6.9 million peak touched in mid-March when the coronavirus pandemic and mandated business closures shut down wide swaths of the U.S. economy. But the recent levels are still well above the highest week on record before this year, which was 695,000 in 1982.

Thursday’s report, however, may not give a clear view into the labor market. The Independence Day holiday, observed July 3, reduced the number of business days applicants had to file. It is not required for a worker to seek benefits the same week they are laid off. Also, the seasonally adjusted data tend to be volatile around major holidays, because the timing differs slightly from year to year.

The number of Americans receiving ongoing unemployment benefits has held near 20 million in recent weeks, down from a peak of nearly 25 million in early May, according to the Labor Department. The leveling of the numbers on unemployment rolls, also known as continuing claims, suggests new layoffs are being offset by hiring and recalling of workers.