WASHINGTON (AP) – After two weeks of declines, the number of laid-off Americans filing new unemployment benefit claims rose to 1.1 million last week.
It’s the latest evidence that employers nationwide are still cutting large numbers of jobs as the COVID-19 pandemic continues it’s grip on the economy.
There have been gains in some sectors like retail and manufacturing, that sector’s index grew more slowly in August than it did in July.
Economist said employers are advertising fewer job openings with unemployment still in the double digits.
Many are worried about the uncertainty of the next few months while others are restricted from opening fully due to lockdowns.
Here in Texas, more than 61 thousand residents filed new unemployment benefit claims for the week ending August 15th.
More than 3.2 million Texans have filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday the Texas Workforce Commission applied for a federal program that would put an extra $300 in the bank accounts of Texans who are unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The application must be approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Then, applicants should start seeing the additional money in their accounts after August 23rd.
Copyright 2020. Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. WBAP contributed to this report.