New applications for unemployment benefits rose last week after a series of declines, showing that the labor market’s recovery from the effects of the pandemic remains uneven. Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 135,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.1 million in the week that ended Aug. 15, the Labor Department said Thursday. The number of people collecting unemployment benefits through regular state programs, which cover most workers, decreased to about 14.8 million for the week ending Aug. 8. That marked the...

Source: Wall Street Journal August 20, 2020 09:30 UTC