US Jobless Claims Up 55,000 Last Week, Rising 3rd Week In Row - Labor Dept.

US unemployment claims rose by 55,000 last week and for a third week in a row as policymakers continued to struggle with ensuring consistent jobs growth in an economy still adjusting to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Labor Department data showed Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2022) US unemployment claims rose by 55,000 last week and for a third week in a row as policymakers continued to struggle with ensuring consistent jobs growth in an economy still adjusting to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Labor Department data showed Thursday.

"In the week ending January 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 286,000, an increase of 55,000 from the previous week's revised level," he department said in a news release. In the previous week to January 13, jobless claims rose by 8,000 to 231,000.

After staggering unemployment initially triggered by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the labor market steadily picked up, showing a jobless rate of 3.

9% in December from a high of 14.8% in April 2020. That was just below the 4% mark that the US Federal Reserve defines as "maximum employment." In terms of total job losses, the number stood at around 20 million at the height of the pandemic before falling to around 4 million now, officials say.

Aside from the sheer improvement in jobs numbers, the United States is experiencing one of the greatest transformations of its employment market as COVID-19 measures upended labor supply and work trends, putting employees' demands above those of employers.