Picture taken in August 2020 shows a restaurant’s sign amid the coronavirus pandemic in Arlington, Virginia. – AFPPIXThe number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell only slightly last week, adding to signs that the economic recovery was losing steam as the Covid-19 pandemic intensifies and fiscal stimulus ends.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 751,000 for the week ended Oct 31, the Labor Department said. Data for the prior week was revised to show 7,000 more applications received than previously reported.The weekly unemployment claims report, the most timely data on the economy's health, followed on the heels of reports on Wednesday showing private payrolls increasing less than expected in October and activity in the services industry cooling.
Though first-time unemployment claims have dropped from a record 6.867 million in March, they remain perched above their 665,000 peak during the 2007-09 Great Recession. Lack of fiscal stimulus and spiraling new coronavirus infections across the country have put the economy on a sharply slower growth path heading into the fourth quarter.The government's closely watched employment report on Friday is expected to show non-farm payrolls increased by 600,000 jobs in October after rising 661,000 in September, according to a Reuters survey of economists. That would leave employment 10.1 million jobs below its peak in February.
Though the claims report showed a decline in the number of people on unemployment rolls in late October, that was partly because many people have exhausted their six months of benefits.