Worker claims for jobless aid, a proxy for layoffs, remain above pre-pandemic record

The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits ‌rose‌ sharply to 853,000 last‌week, holding at a high level nearly nine months into the coronavirus pandemic, as layoffs persist in a slowing labor-market recovery.

Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, have slowly declined since dropping below one million a week at the end of August, but in recent weeks have held above 695,000, the record high weekly figure before the pandemic. The trend tracks improvements in the job market as it recovers from the widespread business closures in the spring—and a recent slowing as the economy continues to face the pandemic.

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Economists, policy makers and investors have viewed jobless claims as a bellwether economic indicator for a half-century. However, the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, last month said a high level of claims during the pandemic and problems with temporary pandemic-related aid programs were causing states to provide flawed data for the Labor Department report.

The weekly level of claims has held in a historically high range of 700,000 to 800,000 since mid-October, more than three times the pre-pandemic average, but well below the late March peak of nearly seven million.

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