U.S. jobless claims rise by 4,000

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the first time in five weeks even though the economy and job market have been recovering briskly from the coronavirus pandemic.

Jobless claims edged up by 4,000, to 353,000, from a pandemic low 349,000 a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.

The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell by 11,500 to 366,500 — lowest since mid-March 2020 when the coronavirus was beginning to slam the United States.

The weekly count has fallen more or less steadily since topping 900,000 in early January as the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has helped the economy — encouraging businesses to reopen or expand hours and luring consumers out of their homes to restaurants, bars and shops.

“We expect jobless claims to remain on a downward path as the labor market continues to recover, but progress will be more fitful as claims get closer to pre-pandemic levels," economists Nancy Vanden Houten and Gregory Daco of Oxford Economics said in a research note.

In Iowa, new claims were up slightly, to 1,820 from 1,744 from the week before. But continuing claims continued to drop, to 14,961 from the previous week’s 16,285.

Linn County's new claims increased from 139 to 152, and Johnson County's decreased from 64 to 60.

Some employers blame labor shortages on supplemental unemployment benefits from the federal government — including $300 a week on top of regular state aid — for discouraging some of the jobless from seeking work.

In response, many states have withdrawn from the federal programs, which expire nationwide next month anyway.

A proposed class-action lawsuit says Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision in May to halt enhanced jobless benefits for Iowans, effective June 12, violated state law. It would ask a court to reinstate eligibility for claimants, Associated Press reported Wednesday.