Jobless Claims Continue to Rise as Another 2.4M Americans File for Assistance, Says Department of Labor

WASHINGTON, D.C. — COVID-19 has continued to impact the U.S. economy as an additional 2.4 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims in the week ending May 16, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. Since mid-March, 38.5 million people have filed first-time claims. The number for this week was inline with what economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected when they forecast 2.4 million claims. The latest number is a decrease of 249,000 claims from the week ending May 11, which was revised down from its original figure by 294,000 to nearly 2.7 million. The four-week moving average is just over 3 million claims, down by 501,000 from the previous four-week moving average. Despite the number of claims rising overall, the weekly figure has lessened for seven consecutive weeks, the Department of Labor found.