New Hampshire unemployment continues decline
(The Center Square) – New unemployment claims in New Hampshire dropped slightly again last week, as the state’s pandemic-battered economy continues to recover.
At least 2,408 new applications for benefits were filed for the week that ended Feb. 20 – an increase of 70 from the previous week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly report.
But the slight rise in new filings for traditional state jobless benefits was offset by a decline in new claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federally backed program which covers workers ineligible for regular unemployment benefits.
There were 25 PUA claims during the week that ended Feb. 20, a decrease of 120 from the previous week.
Meanwhile, 25,424 continuing claims – which are viewed as a barometer of the unemployment situation – were filed in the week ending Feb. 13, declining by 1,326 over the previous week.
New Hampshire’s unemployment rate for December was 4%, a slight increase from the previous month, according to New Hampshire Employment Security.
The state has paid out nearly $1.8 billion in federal and state unemployment benefits since mid-March 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak began.
Nationally, about 730,000 new jobless claims were filed last week, an increase of about 110,000 claims from the previous week, according to the Labor Department.
Continuing claims dropped by 91,500 to about 4.5 million nationally for the week that ended Feb. 6 the labor department said.
Despite the improving labor market, more than 19 million Americans are still receiving state or federal unemployment benefits in the week ending Feb. 6.
The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 6.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, down from a peak of 14.8% in March 2020.
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