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Initial jobless claims declined to a still-elevated 779,000

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First-time claims for jobless benefits declined to a still-elevated 779,000 for the week ending Jan. 30, while continuing claims dropped to 4.592 million for the previous week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

This is the third consecutive weekly decline and most likely reflects an ebbing in the pace of coronavirus infections.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs was 17,835,525 for the week ending Jan. 23, a decrease of 486,405 from the previous week. First-time claims for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance increased by 348,912, down from 403,590.

The numbers remain at historically high levels. For the comparable week a year ago, there were 2,108,515 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs.

The data implies there will be long-term scarring in the domestic labor market that will require sustained policy attention from the federal and state governments. That attention includes extending the range of unemployment insurance for those out of work and another round of assistance checks at a minimum.

For more information on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting midsize businesses, please visit the RSM Coronavirus Resource Center.

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About Joseph Brusuelas

@JoeBrusuelas

Joe Brusuelas, “chief economist to the middle market,” is the preeminent voice championing issues and policies facing midsize companies in the United States and around the world. An award-winning economist, Brusuelas has more than 20 years’ experience analyzing U.S. monetary policy, labor markets, fiscal policy, international finance, economic indicators and the condition of the U.S. consumer.

A member of the Wall Street Journal’s forecasting panel and the UCLA Anderson School of Management's Board of Directors, Brusuelas regularly briefs members of Congress and other senior officials regarding the impacts of federal policy on the middle market and the factors by which middle market executives make business decisions. He also frequently offers his insights on the U.S., Canadian and global economies in the financial media. In 2020, he was named one of the 100 most influential economists by Richtopia. In December 2023, Brusuelas and the economics team were recognized on Bloomberg's list of Best Bond Forecasters after correctly predicting where the benchmark Treasury would end the year.

Before joining RSM in 2014, Brusuelas spent four years as a senior economist at Bloomberg L.P. and the Bloomberg Briefs newsletter group, where he co-founded the award-winning Bloomberg Economic Brief. Earlier in his career, he was a director at Moody's Analytics covering the U.S. and global economies for the Dismal Scientist website. He also served as chief economist at Merk Investments L.L.C. and chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal.

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