First Weekly Increase in Jobless Claims Since March
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From the Left
AP-NORC poll: Nearly half say job lost to virus won’t return
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....
From the Center
The jobless claims numbers are both better and worse than you may have read
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....
From the Left
Jobless claims: Another 1.416 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, as labor market recovery sputters 
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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