With The highest recorded jobless rate of 14.7%  In April 2020, which was the highest recorded jobless rate since the Great Depression, the economy now seeks to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending August 29 was 29,768,326, an increase of 98,456 from the previous week. There were 1,498,917 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 953 in the week ending September 5, a decrease of 85 from the prior week. There were 885 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 29 from the preceding week. There were 13,544 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending August 29, a decrease of 97 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 13,977, an increase of 964 from the prior week.

During the week ending August 29, 50 states reported 14,467,064 individuals claiming Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 49 states reported 1,527,166 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 29 were in Hawaii (20.3), California (17.3), Nevada (15.6), New York (15.0), Puerto Rico (14.1), Louisiana (13.6), Connecticut (11.9), Georgia (11.9), District of Columbia (11.3), and Massachusetts (11.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 5 were in California (+23,841), Texas (+8,618), Louisiana (+8,375), New Jersey (+2,402), and Washington (+2,173), while the largest decreases were in Kentucky (-7,219), Florida (-5,334), Pennsylvania (-2,257), Kansas (-1,915), and Michigan (-994).

Source: Department of Labor