The number of new applications for unemployment benefits last week fell by 75,000 to 712,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, as jobless claims remain historically high.
Economists had projected 775,000 new claims.
“We see a welcome decline, still at horrifically elevated numbers,” said Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com.
Since late August, jobless claims have slowly descended to the upper 700,000s, which is more than three times the numbers that were seen before the pandemic began.
Still, the number of jobless workers currently seeking unemployment benefits could be overstated. A Government Accountability Office report released Monday showed the Labor Department has issued flawed data on jobless workers filing for unemployment.
The historically high number of workers claiming jobless benefits during the pandemic has created a backlog at the state level in processing workers into the unemployment system, which has prompted those workers to submit multiple claims.
It could take a while before the numbers are accurate, according to Hamrick.
“It will take time to improve on the systems overwhelmed by demand some 37 weeks ago,” he said.
The GAO report also found that the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program underpaid many of its recipients. The program is a new category of eligibility created for workers sidelined by the pandemic, such as gig workers whose work dried up.
Altogether, roughly 1 million workers filed for benefits last week, when including claims for the PUA. Still, the total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Nov. 14 was over 20 million.
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Nov. 21 were in Illinois (18,796), Michigan (17,285), Washington (13,499), Georgia (9,462), and California (9,361). The largest decreases for that week were in Louisiana (33,573) and Massachusetts (22,572).
