«Jobless claims may have been held down due to the holiday, but don’t be fooled, the economy’s troubles aren’t over yet, not by a long shot.»
New applications for U. S. jobless benefits fell last week, but a record 32.9 million Americans were collecting unemployment checks in the third week of June, suggesting the labor market was struggling to claw out of the COVID-19 pandemic slump.
Economists cautioned against reading too much into the drop in weekly jobless claims reported by the Labor Department on Thursday, noting that the period included the July 4 Independence Day. Claims data are volatile around holidays.
Large parts of the country, including densely populated states like Florida, Texas and California, are dealing with record spikes of new COVID-19 cases, which have forced a scaling back or pausing of reopenings and sent some workers home again.
“Jobless claims may have been held down due to the holiday, but don’t be fooled, the economy’s troubles aren’t over yet, not by a long shot,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York. “The total number out of work and receiving benefits is the worst yet in this recession.
