Labor Department

WASHINGTON — Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest since March, offering a ray of hope for an economy still battered by the pandemic. Initial jobless claims in regular state programs fell by 249,000 to... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 1.2 million laid-off Americans applied for state unemployment benefits last week, evidence that the coronavirus keeps forcing companies to slash jobs just as a critical $600 weekly federal jobless payment has expired. The Labor Department’s report... Read More

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 32.9% in the second quarter -- the worst quarterly decline ever -- amid a coronavirus pandemic that shuttered businesses and threw millions out of work. The Commerce Department's estimate... Read More

WASHINGTON - More than 1.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, a pace that suggests employers continue to lay people off in the face of a resurgent coronavirus. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of jobless... Read More

WASHINGTON - Employers added 4.8 million jobs in June, pushing the nation's unemployment rate down to 11.1%, down from a peak of 14.7% in April, the Labor Department said Thursday. June was the second month in a row of payroll... Read More

A higher-than-expected number of Americans sought unemployment benefits for a second week, signaling a slowdown in U.S. labor market improvement. Initial jobless claims in regular state programs fell by 60,000 to 1.48 million last week from an upwardly revised figure... Read More

Applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell less than forecast last week, showing only gradual improvement from the worst of the pandemic-related layoffs even as states re-open more of their economies. Initial jobless claims for regular state programs totaled... Read More

WASHINGTON - U.S. employers added 2.5 million jobs in May as businesses began to reopen following months of closures ordered at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. The uptick in hiring dropped the unemployment rate to 13.3%, the Labor Department... Read More

WASHINGTON - The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits in the nine weeks since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic reached 38.6 million last week, just as states across the nation began to take decisive steps to reopen their... Read More

WASHINGTON - Nearly 3 million laid-off Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total job losses since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in mid-February to roughly 36 million, the Labor Department said Thursday. An additional 842,000 people applied... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy slid further into a crisis that is becoming the most devastating since the 1930s. Roughly 30.3 million people have now filed... Read More

WASHINGTON - Just over 4.4 million more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to tame it continue to batter the U.S. economy. The Labor Department said Thursday that 4,427,000 Americans applied for benefits... Read More