New Unemployment Claims Increase To 898,000, Higher Than Expected

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims increased to 840,000 last week as the economy continues to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented an increase of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Oct. 3, in which there were 840,000 new jobless claims reported. Thursday marked the highest number of jobless claims reported since the end of August, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Given that we’re seven months into the pandemic now, these are still incredibly high numbers for initial claims,” said AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at job website Indeed, according to the WSJ.

Economists expected Thursday’s jobless claims number to come in around 830,000, CNBC reported. New jobless claims fell below 1 million in the first week of August, which was the first time the weekly claims had fallen below 1 million since March.

Jobless claims hovered around 200,000 per week before the pandemic, according to WSJ. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in March as coronavirus spread rapidly around the world.

The U.S. added 661,000 jobs in September, while unemployment fell to 7.9%, according to the Department of Labor data released Oct. 2.

The U.S. economy plunged by a record 31.4% in the second quarter due to the pandemic. The third quarter report, which will be released on Oct. 29, is expected to show significant growth, according to the Associated Press.