Another slight dip in state unemployment claims; national claims almost the same

Missouri reported 18,679 more unemployment claims for the week ending June 13, down slightly from the previous week but still historically high.

The state reported 19,820 claims for the week ending June 6. There have been 650,141 state claims since the pandemic hit hard in mid-March.

More from The Associated Press:

About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a historically high number, even as the economy increasingly reopens and employers bring some people back to work. The latest figure from the Labor Department marks the 11th straight weekly decline in applications since they peaked at nearly 7 million in March as the coronavirus shut down much of the economy and caused tens of millions of layoffs. The decline was much smaller than in recent weeks, falling just 58,000.