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- That said, the headline number only counts claims for regular benefits that not everyone who lost their livelihood due to the pandemic has access to. That's why claims for benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, that help workers like independent contractors, are so important. First-time claims under the PUA program totaled 838,916 last week, up from the prior week.
Adding PUA claims and the initial claims figure that is not seasonally adjusted, nearly 1.7 million workers filed initial claims for benefits last week