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The pace of the first jobless claims accelerated last week, with the labor market showing increasing vulnerability to the spread of the coronavirus.
Claims totaled 778,000 for the week ended November 21, ahead of the 733,000 expectations of economists surveyed by Dow Jones and against 742,000 the previous week.
Continuing claims by those receiving benefits for at least two weeks continued to decline, falling to 6.07 million, a decrease of 299,000.
The news comes amid a continued rise in coronavirus cases and fears the national health care system is becoming stressed. Daily new cases have averaged 174,225 over the past week, and health officials fear Thanksgiving may push that level up as families across the country move to celebrate the holidays.
Although weekly claims have been below 800,000 over the past six weeks, they are still well above the pre-pandemic record as governments impose restrictions on activity. The hospitality industry has been particularly hard hit by capacity restrictions and the likelihood that many of them will have to return to take-out-only operations or shut down entirely as winter sets in and cases continue to grow. increase.
Many displaced workers have seen their benefits expire.
Enrollment in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, which provides benefits to those who are not normally eligible, declined by 8,019 in the past week to stand at 311,675. participants in the PUA emergency program, which helps those who have lost their benefits with an additional 13 weeks of compensation, have jumped from 466,106 million to 9.15 million, although that data is two weeks behind.
Total benefits received rose to $ 20.45 million for the week ended Nov. 7, up 135,297 from the previous week. This compares to just under 1.5 million a year ago, which shows how much damage remains in the job market.
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