Delaware’s economy is still shedding jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rate continues to slow.
First time unemployment claims in the First State dropped for a fourth straight week.
The Delaware Department of Labor says 7,754 initial claims were filed last week. That’s about 1,6000 fewer than the prior week when nearly 9,500 claims were filed. And it is well below what the state saw in the final two weeks in March when new weekly claims topped 18,000.
But the state has now seen nearly 80,000 new jobless claims since the pandemic started.
Those declining claims locally reflect the current national trend. The U-S Department of Labor reports over 3.8 million initial claims were filed last week– a 603,000 drop from the prior week.