New figures released Thursday morning by the U.S. Department of Labor show an increase in the number of weekly jobs claims filed by Americans during the last week.
The latest figures show 853,000 filed new jobless claims last week, an increase of 137,000 from the previous week.
The weekly number of jobless claims has fluctuated throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The latest rising numbers coincide with a growing number of state and local shutdowns and restrictions, all designed to combat record-high numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
Before the coronavirus paralyzed the economy in March, weekly jobless claims typically numbered only about 225,000.
The latest figures coincide with a surging viral outbreak that appears to be weakening the job market and the economy and threatening to derail any recovery. Consumers thus far haven’t spent as much this holiday shopping season as they have in previous years, according to credit and debit card data. And in November, employers added jobs at the slowest pace since April. Restaurants, bars and retailers all cut jobs last month.
The total number of people who are receiving state-provided unemployment aid rose for the first time in three months to 5.8 million, the government said, from 5.5 million. That suggests that some companies have sharply pulled back on hiring.
All told, more than 19 million people are still dependent on some type of unemployment benefit. And unless Congress acts soon, nearly half of them will lose that aid in just over two weeks. That’s when two jobless aid programs that the federal government created in the spring are set to expire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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