US jobless claims rise back above one million

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US claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose above one million last week, official figures show.

The Labor Department said claims rose to 1.1 million, ahead of economists’ forecasts of 925,000.

Figures for the week before of 971,000 were the first time since March that claims dipped below a million.

Coronavirus inflections continue to spread across the US, forcing local authorities to shut down or curb businesses.

First-time claims peaked at 6.97 million in March.

«Today’s rise in initial jobless will disappoint the market, especially following last week’s promising data,» said Richard Flynn, UK managing director at stock broker Charles Schwab.

«While hard-hit industries brought workers back in July, the level of weakness remains unprecedented, and the impact of virus-related rolling shutdowns could continue to reverse some of that improvement.»