US jobless claims ease but longer-term labour challenges remain – The National

US jobless claims ease but longer-term labour challenges remain – The National

US jobless claims ease but longer-term labour challenges remain. Applications for unemployment benefits have fallen consistently since peaking at the end of March. Applications for US unemployment benefits gradually eased last week despite a stream of business reopenings, underscoring the longer-term labour market challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.. Initial jobless claims for regular state programmes totalled 1.54 million in the week ending June 6, down from 1.9 million in the prior week, Labour Department figures showed on Thursday.. Continuing claims - the total number of Americans claiming ongoing unemployment benefits in state programmes - decreased by less than estimated to 20.9 million in the week ending May 30.. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell expressed concern on Wednesday about longer-term unemployment challenges after the pandemic. ". Florida saw an increase of about 306,000 from the prior week.. Unadjusted initial claims fell by about 83,000 last week, compared with the seasonally adjusted decline of 355,000.. In the week ending June 6, states reported 705,676 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the federal programme that extends unemployment benefits to those not typically eligible like the self-employed.. The total number of unadjusted continuing claims in all programmes fell slightly to 29.5 million in