Unemployment Claims Show It’s Still Tough to Find Work

New unemployment claims dropped to 217,000 last week, marking the sixth straight weekly decline and the lowest level since April. However, a more important number to watch is continuing unemployment claims – people who are still receiving benefits after their first week. That number rose by 4,000 to 1.955 million, one of the highest levels since late 2021.

What’s the bottom line?
Even though fewer people are filing new claims, many who lost jobs earlier are still unemployed. Continuing claims have stayed above 1.8 million for over a year and have remained above 1.9 million since mid-May. This points to a job market where it’s taking longer to get hired, and available jobs aren’t keeping up with the number of people looking for work.