NO fewer than 1.3 million more American workers filed unemployment claims last week, the U.S. Department of Labour said on Thursday.
The department said in the latest edition of its weekly job statistics that the current figure was 10,000 less than “the previous week’s revised level”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the jobless claims are gradually reducing since their peak of 6.9 milling filings for the week ending on March 28.
However, they remain historically high at over one million each week for nearly four months or 16 weeks.
According to the department, no fewer than 17.4 million workers are continually claiming unemployment insurance for the week ending July 4.
It said another 14.3 million people were claiming Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) programme, bringing the total number of people on unemployment insurance to 32 million.
The latest figures came amid debate in the Congress as to whether to extend additional federal jobless benefits beyond their July tenure.
The government currently pays 600 dollars (N228,000) a week to employed workers, an amount that has helped many struggling to cope.
The U.S. economy added 4.8 million jobs in June in what President Donald Trump described as the largest monthly job gain in U.S. history. (Realnews/NAN)
