The number of new layoffs has stagnated at levels not seen before the pandemic.
The Labor Department on Thursday said another 709,000 workers lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance last week.
The weekly tally has declined sharply since March and April. Still, the number of new layoffs has stagnated at levels not seen before the pandemic, indicating a grueling recovery for the U.S. labor market.
The new figure — the lowest since mid March — comes, however, as new virus cases tick up at alarming rates across the country and threats of new lockdown measures to quell its spread loom large.
Moreover, for the week ending Oct. 24, the Labor Department said the number of people still claiming unemployment benefits through all programs topped 21 million. For the comparable week in 2019, that figure was less than 1.5 million.
In its latest jobs report released last week, the DOL said that the unemployment rate was 6.9%, still nearly double what it was in February before the pandemic hit.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
