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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Another 2.1 million American filed first-time unemployment claims during the week ending May 23, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. Since the COVID-19 outbreak in March, 40.6 million Americans, or one in four in the workforce, have submitted claims. A continuing trend, though, is the steady decline in first-time weekly claims, which have decreased in number for eight consecutive weeks. The four-week moving average was 2.6 million claims, a decrease of 436,000 from the previous week’s moving average.
Additionally, the number of continuing claims dropped by 3.9 million to just over 21 million overall.