Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Below 1 Million for First Time in Pandemic

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped below one million last week for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, likely as the expiration of a $600 weekly jobless supplement discouraged some from filing claims.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 963,000 for the week ended Aug. 8, compared to 1.191 million in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was the lowest level since mid-March when authorities started shutting down non-essential business to slow the spread of coronavirus. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 1.12 million applications in the latest week.