93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
Missouri reported on Thursday there were 10,612 initial unemployment claims for the week ending Aug. 15.
That is up 18% percent from last week’s pandemic low of 8,984, but it is still the second-lowest number of claims since the coronavirus started hurting the economy in mid-March.
We learned this week the monthly unemployment rate in Missouri dropped again, to 6.9%.
More from The Associated Press:
The number of laid-off workers seeking U.S. unemployment benefits rose to 1.1 million last week after two weeks of declines, evidence that employers are still cutting large numbers of jobs as the coronavirus bedevils the U.S. economy. The latest figures suggest that more than five months after the viral outbreak erupted the economy is still weak, despite recent gains as some businesses reopen and some sectors like housing and manufacturing have rebounded. A rising number of people who have lost jobs say they consider their loss to be permanent.
