1.48 million people filed for first-time unemployment last week, worse than predictions

“If you are still firing 1.5 million people in the middle of a reopening, that suggests companies are trying to adjust their workforces to a new future,” said one economist.

Around 1.48 million people filed for initial unemployment benefits last week, the 14th consecutive week that states have processed over a million first-time applications — and a larger weekly figure than economist predictions of 1.35 million.

While the figures for the week ending June 20 are a far cry from the peak of 6.6 million in March, it is still an astonishing number, and a continuation of the grim ritual that has happened at 8:30 a.m. every Thursday since the pandemic hit, when the Department of Labor announces how many claims have been made for unemployment insurance.

The U.S. economy is showing some signs of improvement — in housing and online retail sales, for instance, but the labor market is still in rough shape. Continue reading.