(CNN) America’s jobless crisis is far from over. Thursday’s Department of Labor report hammered that point home: Another 1.4 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week, marking the first increase in initial claims in 16 weeks.
The weekly first-time claims peaked at 6.9 million in the last week of March and fell continuously until last week, when the trend reversed. Economists had predicted claims would remain steady this week at 1.3 million, the same amount as in last week’s report.
Nearly four months after the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the health of Americans, their economy and their labor market, the upswing in economic data is tapering off.