The number of Americans applying for jobless aid rose for the second straight week.
It’s a sign the U.S. economy and job market remains strained from the newest surge of coronavirus cases.
778,000 Americans applied for benefits last week.
Weekly claims usually amounted to only about 225,000 before the virus hit hard in March.
They shot up to nearly 7 million during one week in March before dropping.
They remain historically high, with many businesses unable to fully reopen more than eight months later.
Michigan’s unemployment claim numbers shot back up.
The numbers reported this week include the people who filed after the second round of COVID-19 restrictions went into effect.
32,499 claims were filed in the state last week.
That’s substantially up from the week before when 16,656 claims were reported.
While the numbers did shoot up with the second round of restrictions, they are still far below the peak number of claims filed the week of April 4.
More than 388,000 people in Michigan filed for unemployment benefits then.
Since March 15, the state has paid more than $26 billion of unemployment benefits to Michigan workers.