More than one million Americans are expected to have filed for benefits last week, with more on the way.

The distinction matters for your personal economy and the economy at large.

Many companies are laying off workers. Weekly jobless claims will tell us how many people are now filing for state unemployment benefits.

As unemployment climbs, it gets harder for the economy to come back.

Smoothing over predictable seasonable ups and downs in unemployment can reveal underlying economic trends.

In December, wage gains slowed from earlier in 2019, with average hourly earnings up 2.9% year over year.

When unemployment is low, wages typically shoot up. But wages are growing more slowly than they did 20 years ago.

A Bankrate.com survey of 1,000 people across the country found only 49% of respondents got a raise in 2019.

“It’s really a measure, I think, of worker confidence in the economy,” said Tara Sinclair of George Washington University.

According to the Labor Department, the employment-to-population ratio for 25- to 54-year-olds hasn’t been this high since 2008.