Weekly applications for unemployment benefits are still far lower than the 7 million submitted after nationwide shutdowns in the spring. But last week’s 965,000 is the highest since late August, and much higher than average numbers before the pandemic, when they typically numbered around 225,000 weekly.
Unemployment/Jobs
New jobless claims fell to the lowest level in four weeks, according to the Labor Department. Despite economists in a Dow Jones poll expecting the number to rise to 828,000, the number of new applications dropped 19,000 to 787,000 for the week ending Dec. 26.
After hovering at about 750,000 for the last two weeks, the number of new weekly unemployment applications fell to 709,000 according to the Labor Department’s Thursday report. A new spike in coronavirus cases has triggered increased restrictions in states such as Texas and New York, but the total number of people receiving jobless benefits still dropped from 7.2 million to 6.8 million.
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