Recent figures illustrate that applications for jobless benefits fell just 3 percent in the past two weeks, a much slower pace than in April and May.
The number of unemployed Americans filing for jobless benefits dropped almost imperceptibly last week, igniting concerns that the labor market’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is already starting to plateau.
On Thursday, the government reported the number of individuals seeking unemployment benefits declined slightly to 1.48 million, pushing the total job losses since the pandemic began in mid-March to around 47 million. An additional 728,120 people applied through a program for self-employed and gig workers. Economists expected the claims to drop to 1.3 million.
