WASHINGTON—The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the labor market continued to tread water, but a drop in new COVID-19 cases has raised cautious optimism that momentum could pick up by the spring.
The weekly unemployment claims report from the Labor Department on Feb. 11, the most timely data on the economy’s health, also highlighted labor market scarring, with at least 20.4 million people on unemployment benefits in late January.
