US unemployment claims fall to 779,000 but job cuts grind on

WASHINGTON – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined to 779,000 last week, a still-historically high total that shows that a sizable number of people keep losing jobs to the viral pandemic.

Last week’s total, the third straight, declined from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It left the weekly figure at its lowest point in two months but nevertheless elevated: Before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession.

Thursday’s report reflects a U.S. job market that is still suffering from the pandemic, with hiring having weakened for six straight months. It is a key reason why President Joe Biden is pushing Congress to enact a $1.9 trillion economic rescue program, on top of a $900 billion federal aid package that was approved late last year.

The decline in applications for unemployment aid over the past few weeks suggests that layoffs have eased slightly as several states have loosened restrictions on restaurants, bars and other service firms, causing these businesses to retain workers.

And the pace of new confirmed viral infections is slowing, a trend that has lowered hospitalizations across the country. Average

daily reported cases have fallen 30% in the past week to about 140,000 – one-half the peak level of a month ago.

Even so, the persistence of elevated layoffs remains a cause for concern, economists say.

“Total initial claims fell, but the magnitude is still a huge problem,” said AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist for Indeed.com, the job postings website. “We continue to see the effect of the coronavirus on the labor market. At no point has it let up.”

In January, applications for jobless benefits had accelerated, but that surge might have been driven up, at least in part, by laidoff workers re-applying for benefits after two federal extended programs expired late last year. Those programs were belatedly renewed on Dec. 27, after former President Donald Trump signed the $900 billion stimulus package into law, one day after the programs had expired.

All told, 17.8 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the week that ended Jan. 16, the latest period for which data are available. That’s down from 18.3 million from the week before.

Others have tried but failed to renew their benefits. One is Alfrieda Hylton, who has struggled for months to regain her unemployment aid, which ran out in September. She lives in Capitol Heights, Maryland, but received jobless aid from the District of Columbia, where she worked for 17 years as an administrator at Howard University and three other years at a law firm.

She said she was told by the district to apply for benefits in Virginia, where she worked most recently in a six-month temporary job. But Virginia has referred