States reported that 348,000 workers filed for new unemployment benefits during the week ending August 14, a decrease of 29,000 from the previous week's revised level. Although new claims are down significantly from their weekly level of more than 1 million this time last year, they are still elevated compared to their 2019 weekly average of just over 200,000.
The total number of workers continuing to claim state unemployment benefits fell to 2.8 million. About 11.7 million people overall are receiving some type of unemployment aid, down from over 30 million a year earlier.
As the labor market continues its sluggish recovery, half the states have terminated enhanced federal unemployment benefits provided since early in the COVID-19 crisis. Federal benefits expire for the remaining states the week ending Sept. 4. At that time, about 7.5 million people will lose unemployment aid, including 4.3 million gig workers and the self-employed and 3.2 million people receiving additional aid after exceeding state benefits. Those still able to collect state unemployment benefits will also lose the $300 weekly boost to payments.