Nearly 3 million people filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department reported, bringing the eight-week total to 36.5 million during the coronavirus crisis.
The 2.981 million new claims for unemployment insurance was slightly more than economists had expected. In the previous week, 3.18 million claims were filed.
The Labor Department said last week that 20.5 million jobs were lost in April, bringing the unemployment rate to 14.7%, the highest since World War II.
White House senior adviser Kevin Hassett said Thursday’s data is a sign things could be moving in the right direction.
“I think on net, the claims data today was a positive sign that the turning on of the economy is starting to slow the descent,” he said on Fox Business Network.
• David Sherfinski contributed to this report.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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