Labor Dept Reports Surge In Jobless Claims For Week

Bloomberg News reports:

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits surged last week and exceeded most estimates, suggesting that widening business shutdowns to curb the pandemic are spurring fresh job losses.

Initial jobless claims in regular state programs rose by 137,000 to 853,000 in the week ended Dec. 5, Labor Department data showed Thursday. On an unadjusted basis, the figure increased by almost 229,000.

Continuing claims, the number of Americans on ongoing unemployment benefits, jumped by 230,000 to 5.76 million in the week ended Nov. 28.

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