August 9, 2021—Unemployment claims in the U.S. continued to fall this week, signaling further recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession.
A Labor Department Report on Thursday showed claims fell by 14,000 from last week to 385,000 according to the Associated Press, continuing a steady downward trend from a pandemic-high 900,000 in January.
Even with the progress, unemployment numbers are still significantly higher than pre-pandemic averages; before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020, claims were averaging out around 220,000 a week, and the economy is still down about 6.8 million jobs from where it was in February 2020.
Signs of recovery are encouraging, though, as the U.S. has been adding more than 540,000 jobs a month this year.
