New Unemployment Claims Dip, but Economic Pain Persists

While there is a “gradual healing of the labor market,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at the accounting firm Grant Thornton, the number of laid-off and furloughed workers collecting some form of unemployment insurance is still staggeringly high.

A total of 723,000 workers filed new claims for state benefits, the Labor Department reported Thursday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the figure was 709,000.

Another 298,000 new claims were filed under a federal emergency program, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, designed for freelancers, part-time workers and others who are not normally eligible for state benefits.