Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week, reflecting a change to seasonal adjustments that are normally designed to smooth regular swings in the data but ended up distorting figures because of the pandemic.
Initial jobless claims in regular state programs totaled 881,000 in the week ended Aug. 29, according to Labor Department data Thursday. That follows 1.01 million in the prior week, a figure that's not directly comparable because of the change in methodology.
On an unadjusted basis _ or before any seasonal adjustments _ claims rose by 7,591 to 833,352 last week.
