More than 1 million Americans applied for jobless benefits, down 98,000 from last week

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just over 1 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the coronavirus outbreak continues to threaten jobs even as the housing market, auto sales and other segments of the economy rebound from a springtime collapse.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people seeking jobless aid last week dropped by 98,000  from 1.1 million the week before.

The number of initial claims has exceeded 1 million most weeks since late March.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, they never topped 700,000 in a week. More than 14.5 million are collecting traditional jobless benefits — up from 1.7 million  a year ago — a sign that many American families are depending on unemployment checks to keep them afloat.