US jobless applications continue steady decline

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The number of US citizens applying for unemployment benefits fell for the third week in a row last week, the Washington Times reports. On Thursday the Labour Department said unemployment claims had fallen to 375,000 from 387,000 the previous week.

The number of unemployment applications reached 900,000 in early January, but has been falling steadily as the economy has increasingly reopened, the Time said. Before the Pandemic struck the economy in March 2020, around some 220,000 jobless applications were submitted a week.

The government reported on Monday that employers offered over 10 million available jobs in June, the most on record since December 2000, the Times said. Moreover, the government reported that employers added 943,000 jobs last week, and the rate of unemployment dropped from 5.9% to 5.4. Hourly pay rates also increased sharply by 4% in July, compared to the same time last year.

The Times notes that the new unemployment figures represent a record number of available jobs being made available and that fewer people are being laid off.

Nevertheless, the Times notes, while the figures would indicate the surge in COVID-19 Delta variant cases has not caused layoffs or slowed hiring, Monday’s government figures pertain to the middle of last month, before the current spike.

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