First-Time Jobless Claims Drop Below One Million For First Time Since March

For the first time since March, the number of first-time jobless claims was below one million. According to the latest data from the Department of Labor, 963,000 people filed for unemployment benefits last week. The number of new claims has been dropping since it hit a peak of 6.9 million in the final week of March.

While the milestone is a good sign that the economy is moving in the right direction, more than 28 million people are still collecting unemployment as the coronavirus continues to surge across the country.

"Seeing initial claims dip below one million is a positive sign that layoffs are easing, but we're far from celebrating a steady recovery," said Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor, according to Fox Business. "Tens of millions of people are still collecting unemployment benefits at a level far above the worst points of the Great Recession. We've not yet seen the light at the end of the tunnel for millions of workers."

The biggest drops in claims were in Florida, which saw a decrease of 23,180 applications, followed by New York and Texas, which saw 21,905 and 11,233 fewer claims, respectively.

Photo: Getty Images


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