U.S. Jobless Claims Since Shutdown Reach 33.5 Million

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back further off their recent record high in the week ended May 2nd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, although claims remain at an elevated level and came in above economist estimates.

The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 3.169 million, a decrease of 677,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 3.846 million.

Economists had expected jobless claims to tumble to 3.000 million from the 3.839 million originally reported for the previous week.

While jobless claims have declined steadily since hitting a record high of 6.867 million in the week ended March 28th, the total number of new claims since the coronavirus-induced shutdown has now reached 33.5 million.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average slumped to 4,173,500, a decrease of 861,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 5,035,000.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, jumped by 4.636 million to 22.647 million in the week ended April 25th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also surged up to 17,097,750, an increase of 3,800,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 13,297,500.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on the employment situation in the month of April.

Employment is expected to plunge by approximately 22 million jobs in April, driving the unemployment rate up to 14.0 percent.

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