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Headline Roundup July 24th, 2020

First Weekly Increase in Jobless Claims Since March

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Roughly 1.4 million polled filed new unemployment claims last week, the first rise in jobless claims since March. Many experts attribute the rise to economic uncertainty amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Right- and left-rated outlets tended to report uniformly on the news. Some polls suggest the general public is concerned about the job market's ability to fully recover.

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AP-NORC poll: Nearly half say job lost to virus won’t return
AP-NORC poll: Nearly half say job lost to virus won’t return

Associated Press

News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, a sign of increasing pessimism that would translate into roughly 10 million workers needing to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.

It’s a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts. In April, 78% of those in households with a job loss thought they’d be temporary....

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The jobless claims numbers are both better and worse than you may have read
The jobless claims numbers are both better and worse than you may have read

MarketWatch

News

The headlines this morning say that more people filed for unemployment benefits last week for the first time since March, according to the Labor Department. But the reported increase is merely a statistical mirage.

Properly viewed, job losses are essentially unchanged over the past several weeks at an extremely high level. About 10 times as many people are losing their jobs every week than did before the economy took that terrible blow in March.

In the real world, slightly fewer people lost their jobs last week than the week before....

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Jobless claims: Another 1.416 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, as labor market recovery sputters
Jobless claims: Another 1.416 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, as labor market recovery sputters

Yahoo News

News

The level of new jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week, signaling a weakening trend in the labor market as states across the US grapple with a resurgence in coronavirus cases. Another 1.416 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance benefits, up from just over 1.3 million the prior week, to mark the first increase in new claims on a week over week basis since March.

Here were the main results from the report, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

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