Nearly 1.5M Americans File First-Time Unemployment Claims in Latest Weekly Figures

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly 1.5 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims during the week ending June 20, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. The claims remain historically high in the midst of the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, though the week-over-week numbers have declined for 12 consecutive weeks. The most recent figure was 60,000 fewer than the previous week’s total. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones anticipated a total of under 1.4 million claims for the week. Furthermore, the four-week moving average has also been steadily declining, dropping by 160,750 claims to 1.6 million, according to the Department of Labor. Continuing claims also fell by 767,000 claims to under just over 19.5 million. This is the first week since the economic shutdown in mid-March that continuing claims have fallen below 20 million.