When the initial wave of layoffs due to the coronavirus hit the U.S. economy in April and subsequent lockdowns, many people thought these losses would be temporary phenomenon that would quickly rebound as businesses reopened.However, the new employment data seems to suggest that these “temporary” job losses have turned permanent for millions of Americans.

American workers continued to hit the unemployment line in large numbers last week, with 898,000 new claims filed for jobless benefits. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 830,000. The total for the week ended Oct. 10 was the highest number since Aug. 22 and another sign that the labor market continues to struggle to get back to its pre-coronavirus pandemic mark as cases rise and worries increase over a renewed wave in the fall and winter. The number represented a gain of 53,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised total of 845,000.

Walt Disney Co. said it would lay off about 28,000 employees at its domestic theme parks, making the announcement shortly after the state of California signaled that Disneyland Resort would likely have to remain closed for the foreseeable future due to Covid-19 concerns.

Americans were starting to fall off the rolls of unemployment. But Thursday's claims report shows the drop-off hasn't just stalled out — the trend continues to reverse course.

Businesses in many states are likely to face tax increases as early as next year to replenish depleted trust funds that pay unemployment benefits. Workers may also face cuts in unemployment benefits.

Worries of a K-shaped recovery are growing in the alphabet-obsessed economics profession. That would entail continued growth, but split sharply between industries and economic groups. 

Economists are worried that the tepid recovery in the US job market could run out of steam this fall should coronavirus cases surge again just as federal stimulus money runs out.

After the failed talks of stimulus negotiators between the Republican and Democratic highest officials, Congress would reportedly act on the second round of the stimulus payment next month.

The pandemic’s resurgence, coupled with dire warnings about a likely second wave, now seems to be halting in its tracks the economy’s very strong bounce from its second-quarter collapse.

Uh-oh. Those of us who remember when ’80s music was new had better start bracing ourselves for those big-box-store greeter jobs earlier than we expected. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the jobs market is probably heading for a massive, rolling shakeout. And that means plenty of employers may be using the cover of COVID-19 to get rid of lots of expensive older workers.

A proposal floated by the White House and some Republicans that would tie unemployment payouts to roughly 70% of a worker’s previous wage in a next coronavirus stimulus bill could delay jobless benefits by up to 20 weeks, a new memo reported by NPR shows, leaving around 25 million Americans relying on the payments with a drastic pay cut for a lengthy period of time.

Black and Hispanic households in greatest danger as evictions loom. Days from the end of enhanced unemployment benefits and a federal eviction moratorium, 24 million Americans say they have little to no chance of being able to pay next month’s rent, a U.S. Census Bureau survey shows.

"The cliff is totally visible in front of us": The future is grim if Congress doesn’t act on the economy. The country is ambling toward a cliff, putting millions of Americans’ lives and livelihoods in danger and all but ensuring prolonged economic distress nationwide. It didn’t have to be this way. Yet here we are, unable to shake out of it.

The world is facing a staggering jobs challenge with a quarter of a billion people set to lose their job this year, the president of Microsoft has said. Brad Smith says millions will need to learn new skills to get jobs, or even to hang on to their old one, as the digitisation of economies races ahead.

Four months into the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional 1.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to U.S. Department of Labor data released Thursday. That's down 10,000 from the previous week but still significantly higher than pre-pandemic figures. Continued claims of workers who filed claims at least two weeks in a row were at 17.3 million for the week ending July 4. Continued claims lag a week behind the new weekly claims report.

Uber on Thursday said it would let drivers across the state of California set their own rates as a function of the company’s price “multiplier” — used in Uber’s so-called “surge” pricing. The move builds on a pricing experiment that began in January in Sacramento, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs. Previously, drivers had no ability to set their own rates, which was one of the primary critiques of proponents of AB5, the state law that took effect at the beginning of the year.

From airlines to paper mills, the job news is grim, and there are growing signs it won't be getting better anytime soon. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported nearly 2.4 million new applications for state and federal unemployment benefits last week.

Nonfarm payrolls soared by 4.8 million in June and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1% as the U.S. continued its reopening from the coronavirus pandemic, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a 2.9 million increase and a jobless rate of 12.4%. The report was released a day earlier than usual due to the July Fourth holiday.

Weekly jobless claims stayed above 1 million for the 13th consecutive week as the coronavirus pandemic continued to hammer the U.S. economy. First-time claims totaled 1.5 million last week, higher than the 1.3 million that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting. The government report’s total was 58,000 lower than the previous week’s 1.566 million, which was revised up by 24,000.

The pace of unemployment claims declined again last week as the U.S. jobs market continued its plodding recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Labor Department data showed Thursday.