Week sees slight fall in jobless claims
Numbers suggest stall in job openings
WASHINGTON — The number of laid-off workers seeking U.S. unemployment aid barely fell last week, and the reopening of small businesses has leveled off — evidence that the job market’s gains might have stalled just as a surge in coronavirus cases is endangering an economic recovery.
Last week, the number of people applying for jobless benefits declined slightly to 1.48 million. It was the 12th straight weekly drop. An additional 700,000 people applied through a program for self-employed and gig workers that made them eligible for aid for the first time. These figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations, so the government doesn’t include them in the official count.
Initial unemployment claims in Nevada increased by 3,140 last week, from 10,620 the week before to 13,760, according to the Department of Labor. The department reported 29,441 initial Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims in Nevada for the week ending June 20, an increase of 4,721 from 24,720 the previous week.
Overall applications for jobless aid nationally have edged down just 3 percent in the past two weeks — a much slower pace than in late April and May.
“There has been no real decline in weekly claims the past two weeks,” said Julia Pollak, a labor economist at Ziprecruiter. “There has also been no real increase in job openings. What seemed like encouraging signs of recovery in May largely stalled in June.”
A separate government report Thursday said orders for durable goods unexpectedly jumped nearly 16 percent in May, reflecting a rebound in some business activity. Still, the pace of orders and shipments remains below prepandemic levels. And excluding the volatile transportation category, so-called core orders rose only modestly, reflecting stillsluggish business investment.