Labor Dept Reports Spike In New Jobless Claims

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The number of applications for unemployment benefits rose sharply last week, indicating continued challenges for the U.S. economic recovery as coronavirus infections increased around the country.

Initial claims for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, rose to a seasonally adjusted 742,000 last week, up from the 711,000 filed a week earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday.

That level is more than three times higher than the roughly 210,000 typically filed each week in the first two months of 2020, though it is down sharply from a peak of nearly 7 million in late March.

U.S. weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise https://t.co/ywVyL54TJv pic.twitter.com/nUWRciHIZ1

— Reuters (@Reuters) November 19, 2020

JUST IN: Last week’s jobless claims totaled 742,000 — higher than economists’ forecasts of 710,000 — and with coronavirus infection rates hitting record daily highs, the labor market continues to face an unsteady path to recovery. https://t.co/bKgtNL86MA

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 19, 2020