Jobless claims dip below 1 million for first time in more than four months

About 960,000 workers filed for unemployment insurance last week, which marks the first time that initial claims dipped below one million since mid-March, when the coronavirus pandemic first took hold and economic lockdowns forced workers home.

The weekly claims figure for the week ending Aug. 8 dropped fell below the 1.18 million claims from last week, but remains well above historic highs. The pre-pandemic record for initial weekly claims was 695,000, from 1982, another recession.