US Unemployment Claims Up 2nd Week In Row - Labor Dept.

US Unemployment Claims Up 2nd Week in Row - Labor Dept.

US unemployment claims increased for a second week in a row, the Labor Department said on Thursday as policymakers continued to struggle with ensuring consistent jobs growth in an economy struggling to rebound from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic measures

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2022) US unemployment claims increased for a second week in a row, the Labor Department said on Thursday as policymakers continued to struggle with ensuring consistent jobs growth in an economy struggling to rebound from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic measures.

"In the week ending January 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 230,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 207,000," the Labor Department said in a press release.

In the previous week to January 6, unemployment claims increased by 7,000.

After staggering levels of unemployment initially caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the subsequent measures, the labor market has steadily picked up last year, showing a jobless rate of 3.

9% by December from a high of 14.8% in April of 2020.

The improvement 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, according to officials.

The United States is experiencing one of the greatest transformations of its employment market as the pandemic measures upended labor supply and work trends, putting employees' demands above those of employers.