Labor Dept Reports 712K New Jobless Claims For Week

MarketWatch reports:



New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell in late November for the first time in three weeks, probably due in part to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The number of people applying for benefits, however, is still quite high and the latest decline is unlikely to dispel fresh worries about rising layoffs and a slowdown in hiring after a record wave of coronavirus cases.

Initial jobless claims dropped by a seasonally adjusted 75,000 to 712,000 in the seven days ended Nov. 28. Another 288,701 people applied for benefits through a temporary federal-relief program that expires at the end of the year, the government said Thursday.