End of July jobless rate remained high, although lower than forecast

Although the number of employment claims at the end of July was over 1 million for the 20th straight week, it was also the lowest number of new claims since the US was struck by COVID-19 in March, the Washington Examiner reports. The end of July saw 1.2 million claims when economists had forecast there would be 1.42 million.

Federal Officers, Protesters Clash in Violent Weekend Across US

Protests took a violent turn in several U.S. cities over the weekend with demonstrators squaring off against federal agents outside a courthouse in Portland, Oregon, forcing police in Seattle to retreat into a station house and setting fire to vehicles in California and Virginia.

CDC: COVID-19 Deaths for Week Ending June 27 Down 91.9% From Mid-April Peak

In the week that ended on June 27, there were 1,363 deaths in the United States involving COVID-19, which was a 91.9 percent drop from the peak of 16,895 COVID-involved deaths reported for the week that ended on April 18, according to the provisional COVID-19 death counts published by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

US Law Enforcement Officers Join Protests Against Police Brutality

Even as rioting continued across the US this weekend, police squads were seen joining with peaceful protests against the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis on May 25, Forbes reported. Especially poignantly for some, police officers were seen and photographed kneeling in solidarity with protestors and the anti-racism movement.

California Allows Limited Reopening for Churches Days After Interventions by US State Department and President Trump

The state of California issued guidelines Monday under which houses of worship may reopen. The Department of Health guidelines were published even though the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 ban on public gatherings could stand. The decision to allow churches to reopen also follows interventions last week by the US State Department, which specified that California’s ban on church gatherings was unfair, and by President Trump, who called on all states to lift bans on religious assemblies.

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