US weekly jobless claims total 3,169 million, bringing seven-week tally to 33.5 million

US weekly jobless claims total 3,169 million, bringing seven-week tally to 33.5 million

Unemployment rolls continued to swell in the U.S. last week, though jobless claims hit their lowest level since the economy went into lockdown made to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

First-time filings for unemployment insurance hit 3.17 million last week, bringing the total to 33.5 million over the past seven weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The total was slightly higher than the 3.05 million expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones and below the previous week’s 3,846 million, which was revised up by 7,000.

Though the numbers remain stark, it was the lowest total since the second week of March, shortly after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus strain a pandemic.

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