Jobless claims climb back above 1 million as recovery in U.S. labor market slows

The numbers: Initial weekly jobless benefit claims rose in mid-August and topped 1 million again, potentially pointing to an increase in layoffs after a summer surge in the coronavirus epidemic or perhaps to more people applying for benefits after President Trump temporarily added $300 in extra federal payouts.

New applications for unemployment benefits, a rough gauge of layoffs, climbed to 1.11 million from 971,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast 910,000 new claims in the seven days ended Aug. 15. These seasonally adjusted figures reflect applications filed the traditional way through state unemployment offices.

The increase in new claims wasn’t as bad as it seemed, however, based on actual or unadjusted figures. They rose a much smaller 52,776 to 891,510 and remained below 1 million for the third straight week.