Although the US economy has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks as lockdown restrictions have eased, millions of Americans are still seeking unemployment aid to make ends meet. Another 1.5 million workers filed for first-time jobless benefits last week, the Department of Labor said Thursday. Initial claims have been falling every week since peaking at 6.9 million in the last week of March. Economists think this means that most job losses due to the pandemic are behind us. Overall, more than 45 million Americans have now for first-time benefits since mid-March. Stripping out the seasonal adjustments, initial claims stood at 1.4 million last week. These adjustments smooth out the data in normal times but add unnecessary noise in this unprecedented situation.