New jobless claims rise for the 1st time since March

A person in their car arrives to receive an unemployment application being given out by City of Hialeah employees in front of the John F. Kennedy Library on April 08, 2020 in Hialeah, Florida

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published 23 July 2020

The number of new weekly jobless claims in the United States appears to be headed in the wrong direction.

The Labor Department on Thursday said that 1.416 million Americans filed new jobless claims last week, CNBC reports. Not only was this higher than the 1.3 million claims economists had been expecting, but it was also the first time since March that the number of new claims has increased from the previous week, Bloomberg reports. A week prior, there were about 1.3 million new claims.

This rise comes as surges in COVID-19 cases has prompted states to pause or roll back their reopenings, and as The New York Times notes, it also comes days before the additional $600 a week in unemployment benefits that was a part of Congress' CARES Act is scheduled to expire. The number of new jobless claims had been gradually decreasing every week, although that number still consistently remained quite high and about double the worst week of the Great Recession.

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.