A barber shop shows closed and hiring sign during the coronavirus pandemic in Chicago in April. Initial U.S. jobless claims totaled just over 1 million for the week ending August 22, down from 1.104 million in the previous week. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims expected claims to come in right at 1 million. Continuing claims — which account for those receiving unemployment benefits for at least two straight weeks — fell by 223,000 to 14.535 million for the week ending August 15. Last week marked the 22nd time in 23 weeks that initial claims were above 1 million.

Source: The Standard August 27, 2020 11:26 UTC