Jobless claims fall, even as states reimpose restrictions

Initial jobless claims continued to fall last week, even as a slew of states hard-hit with COVID-19 reintroduced restrictions.

For the week ending July 4, 1.3 million people applied for initial unemployment claims, down from 1.427 million the week before.

But the number of people applying for help under the expanded Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program spiked, rising by 42,000 to over 1 million claims.

The expanded program covers groups traditionally ineligible for unemployment benefits, such as freelance workers, gig economy workers, and the self-employed.