Initial Unemployment Claims Slightly Drop In North Carolina

North Carolina’s initial unemployment-insurance benefit claims showed a slight downward trend last week. The Winston-Salem Journal reported Thursday that the state had 12,591 claims for the week that ended Sept. 19. The number is slightly down from a revised 13,437 the previous week. Since the pandemic began, the highest weekly total for unemployment insurance claims in North Carolina has been 172,745. That was for the week that ended March 28. Across the nation, there were 870,000 initial claims filed last week. For comparison, the national weekly peak was the 6.87 million claims for the week that ended March 28.