Jobless claims fall by 12,000 to 375K

New applications for jobless benefits fell during the first week of August by 12,000 to a total of 375,000, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.

In the week ending Aug. 7, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell from the previous week’s revised total of 387,000. The four-week average of claims ticked higher by 1,750 to 396,250 after an unusually high jump in mid-July.

Another 104,572 Americans applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), an increase of 10,145 from the last week of July, driven primarily by a 4,100-claim increase in California and a 6,000-claim increase in Michigan. Several states have reported sharp one-time increases or decreases in claims throughout the pandemic, largely due to filing and processing issues or fraud.

Jobless claims have steadily declined through August as hiring accelerated through the summer. Roughly half of U.S. states have also pulled out of expanded federal unemployment aid set to expire in September, and the White House has all but formally ruled out an extension.

Roughly 7.5 million people stand to lose their jobless benefits when federal unemployment aid expires next month. Most Republican lawmakers and some moderate Democrats say it’s long past time to pull back emergency jobless aid with vaccines widely available, job openings at record highs, and many businesses struggling to hire workers even beyond previous wage levels.

But many liberal lawmakers and advocates have called on Biden to back another extension, particularly as COVID-19 cases surge among unvaccinated Americans and overwhelm hospitals in some hard-hit states.