First time unemployment claims were essentially level last week, to 884,000 applicants, according to the Department of Labor, in a signal that companies are not retaining and rehiring people fast enough to propel a rapid economic recovery.
Using its new calculation, the DoL also increased the previous week’s estimate to 884,000. This marks the second consecutive week first time claims were below one million.
The number of Americans taking any type of unemployment benefit increased by 380,000 to 29,605,000. One year ago, 1,591,000 people were on unemployment assistance.