Nearly 1.5 million filed for unemployment last week

An estimated 1.48 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance last week, topping the expected total of 1.35 million, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The number is the lowest weekly number since the jobless report began to spike early April, as a result of the coronavirus. Jobless claims have been on a consistent downward trend since it peaked at about 7 million, three months ago. 

This is the 14th-straight week that the jobless filings have remained above 1 million.

The total number of people receiving benefits continues to fall. This week, the number decreased by 767,000, to 19.52 million.