It appears as though more Americans filed unemployment claims last week than had been forecast.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday morning jobless claims totaled 1.46 million the last seven days.
Economists polled by Dow Jones expect initial jobless claims to total 1.3 million in the most recent week. That would mark the 18th straight week in which initial claims rose by more than one million.
California saw the highest number of initial claims filed last week at more than 292,000, the Labor Department’s report showed.
Last week’s apparent stalling in the labour market stateside comes as coronavirus cases in the U.S. rise at a record-setting pace. Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed the total number of confirmed cases in the country is nearing four million. Coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. also amount to more than 140,000.
