Washington (AFP)
New jobless claims fell last week in the United States, falling below the million mark for the first time since March, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department.
Some 963,000 people registered as unemployed in the United States between August 2 and 8, down from 1.19 million the week before. It is also much less than expected by analysts, who expected 1.15 million.
Unemployment had skyrocketed at the end of March, because of the containment measures imposed in the face of the pandemic. The all-time high was reached in the last week of March, with 6.6 million new unemployed in one week.
The total number of unemployment benefit recipients in the country has also declined, but remains at a very high level, with nearly 15.5 million people in early August.
If we add the people who cannot receive unemployment, but receive an allowance after having seen their income considerably reduced because of the pandemic - the self-employed for example, or those who have reached the end of their unemployment rights - these are over 28 million people receiving aid.
“The risks of permanent job losses and damage to the labor market remain high, slowing the pace of recovery. The economy is on a long and uncertain path to return to pre-pandemic prosperity levels "commented Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics.
In July, the unemployment rate continued to fall in the United States, to 10.2%.
The millions of unemployed Americans received, until the end of July, additional aid of $ 600 per week, which had been put in place by the Trump administration and Congress at the end of March, to deal with the pandemic.
While the White House and elected Democrats in Congress fail to reach an agreement on a new plan to help the economy, of which the extension of this aid is part, Donald Trump signed an executive order on Saturday, temporarily granting 400 dollars a week to the unemployed.
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