⁍ Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 870,000 for the week ended Sept. 19.

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⁍ Unadjusted claims increased 28,527 to 824,542 last week.

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⁍ Six months after the pandemic started in the United States, jobless claims remain above their 665,000 peak during the 2007-09 Great Recession.

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⁍ Economists believe the so-called continuing claims are declining as people exhaust their eligibility for benefits.

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– The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased last week, supporting views the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was running out of steam amid diminishing government funding. The weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department on Thursday, the most timely data on the economy’s health, also showed 26 million people were on unemployment benefits in early September as the jobs market struggles to heal as the coronavirus crisis rages on, reports Reuters.