About 900,000 people applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending Oct. 10, according to the Labor Department.
The figure remains high seven months after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and after federal unemployment assistance for millions of Americans expired.
There were 53,000 more requests compared to the previous week.
The Labor Department reviewed this latest figure which was 845,000 applications and not 840,000 as it had announced.
This still high number of unemployed people reflects an economy that has recovered just over half of the 22 million jobs that were lost due to the pandemic.
Many Americans face unemployment with greatly reduced assistance since a $ 600-a-week federal benefit expired this summer.
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The weekly report coincides with waning prospects in Washington for a new federal aid package that economists say is urgently needed for unemployed workers and struggling businesses, states and cities.
Congress remains at a standstill.
At the same time, economists say they have grown increasingly skeptical of the government's figures for unemployment benefits, although there is little doubt that hiring has declined and many employers continue to cut jobs.
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The last sizable drop in weekly unemployment occurred in mid-August, when the number of people out of work dropped from 1 million to 880,000.
Since then, throughout September unemployment remained stable at that amount, and beginning in October the situation remains the same.
The figure is four times higher than that recorded in the months prior to the coronavirus pandemic and reveals that the economic effects generated by the health crisis are still present.
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The Labor Department report comes out just a few days after the Senate Majority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, affirmed that next week the economic stimulus plan that Republicans presented to alleviate the crisis of the pandemic and it was blocked by Democrats in September.
"When the Senate returns on October 19, our first order of business will be to vote again on the relief program for American workers, including new funding for the Wage Protection Program" (PPP), McConnell said.
However, the words of the Republican leader contrast with those of the president, Donald Trump, who minutes later called on Congress to approve a larger aid package.
"ENCOURAGEMENT! Go for something big, or go for nothing," he wrote on Twitter.
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Trump's plan, which even faces rejection in his own party, reaches $ 1.8 trillion, more than triple the Republican package that was rejected by Democrats as "insufficient."
Among other things, the Republican proposal that will be voted on again cuts the additional unemployment benefits per week in half to $ 300 through December, and does not include another round of stimulus checks of $ 1,200 (which does include Trump's plan ).
With information from AP.
