Weekly new jobless claims edge lower despite Delta variant concerns

The number of Americans newly seeking jobless benefits edged lower last week as the labor market continued to recover despite fresh concerns over the surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, the feds said Thursday.

Initial filings for unemployment benefits, seen as a proxy for layoffs, reached 375,000 last week, down 12,000 from the prior week’s revised level of 387,000, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department. The number of Americans seeking new unemployment benefits exactly matched expectations from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.