884,000 people filed for jobless benefits last week, the second week in a row of fewer than a million claims

Another 839,000 had claims processed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the program for self-employed and gig workers, which have been rising for weeks. In early August that number had sunk to 489,000.

When added together, the numbers of new unemployment claims and PUA claims have risen for four weeks straight.

"It's super disappointing," said AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab. "It really points to mounting damage from the coronavirus."

The total number of people claiming unemployment insurance continues to go up as well: 29.6 million people were on some form of unemployment insurance as of August 22, according to labor data, nearly 20 times the 1.59 million on jobless benefits during the same period last year.

The number of people newly claiming benefits has gone down steadily since its peak in March but remains well above pre-pandemic highs. The previous record for initial weekly claims was 695,000 from 1982, a level that the country has been above for more than five months.

The jobless benefits numbers come at a turbulent time for the economy. The unemployment rate in August sunk below 10 percent for the first time since April but economists continue to warn about the potential for the labor market's recovery to stall or worsen if more government aid is not approved.

At the same time, the number of jobs available in July has increased and stands at 6.62 million, making one job available for every 2.5 unemployed Americans, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday.

The $600 in supplemental benefits that many unemployed workers were relying on to pay their bills expired at the end of July, and Congress has thus far failed to come to agreement on extending it. The $300 a week of funding that some states made available through President Donald Trump's August executive order was only expected to last about three weeks. 

There are other data points that economists say worry them.

Some indicators, such as card use transactions, show that consumer spending, on things like restaurants, gas, clothing and hotels may be leveling off. Data from the employee scheduling company Homebase showed that the recovery of small businesses, as measured by companies opening and employees working, flatlined from July through August, after a period of improvements.

Konkel said that the recovery in the number of job postings on Indeed appears to have slowed in recent weeks. It remains about 19 percent below the same period last year.