The number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time fell unexpectedly last week, marking their second consecutive decline.
Initial unemployment claims fell between 19,000 and 787,000 in the week ended Dec. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected initial unemployment claims to rise to 828,000. The total initial claims for the previous week were revised upwards between 3,000 and 806,000.
Ongoing claims, which include those people who have received unemployment benefits for at least two weeks in a row, fell by 103,000 to 5.219 million in the week of December 19th.
The number of people receiving benefits in all unemployment programs fell by 800,000 to 19.6 million.
The four-week moving average for first-time applicants rose from 17,750 to 836,750, indicating that the labor market is still under pressure as the coronavirus pandemic collapses.
“There are no real improvements in the data,” John Ryding, economic adviser to Brean Capital, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box”. “What we’re seeing is a very difficult time in the economy with the uptake of viruses we’ve seen and the slow development of vaccination.”
The United States records at least 181,998 new cases of coronavirus each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using data from Johns Hopkins University. The country’s Covid hospitalization rate has also risen, topping 125,000 for the first time.
“There’s good news ahead, but you can’t see it in those numbers,” Ryding said. “This good news will get to the point where it is enough [vaccine] shots in the arms of the people and we approach something like the immunity of the flock. Unfortunately, that won’t be until the summer. “
U.S. lawmakers recently approved a $ 900 billion Covid stimulus package that includes direct payments of $ 600 to most Americans. This week, the House passed a measure that would increase those payments to $ 2,000, but the Senate blocked it.
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