(Washington) Unemployment claims rose over the course of the week in the US, disappointing expectations and dampening hopes for an early economic recovery, according to Labor Department data released on Thursday.
Between February 7 and 13, 861,000 people were registered as unemployed, while analysts had forecast 775,000.
This represents 13,000 more records than the previous week, as the data has been revised up: 848,000 people registered, or 55,000 more than what was initially announced.
In contrast, the number of people receiving aid due to unemployment or loss of income decreased in the last week of January, according to the latest available data, also released on Thursday.
The United States now has 18.3 million beneficiaries, a number that rose to 20.4 million the previous week.
This represents 2.6 million more people than the previous week, due to unemployment benefits being extended through March for all recipients. Thus, many Americans whose unemployment rights had expired were able to re-register.
This new increase in unemployment claims is disappointing, with the first signs of optimism emerging, as COVID-19 cases recede in the country and residents are vaccinated.
Le plan d’aides de 900 milliards de dollars adopté fin décembre a permis de redonner un peu de pouvoir d’achat aux Américains, et le Congrès devrait adopter prochain un nouveau plan de relance, de 1900 milliards de dollars, présenté par Joe Biden pour Revive the economy.
The unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points in January to 6.3%. But according to the president of the Fed, it’s actually closer to 10%.
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