The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to almost a million people as the latest unemployment figures still remain at levels never seen until the virus struck.
The latest report released by the Labor Department Thursday shows that the number of people filing for jobless benefits increased by 181,000 to a total of 965,000, the most since late August. The previous week showed a slight decrease.
“The rise and level of new unemployment claims is shocking, at the highest point seen since late August,” said Mark Hamrick, senior analyst at Bankrate. “This reminds us that the economic crisis has not gone away, far from it, at a time when multiple crises have been vying for our attention. It hasn’t helped that administration of COVID-19 vaccines has been slow to gather momentum since the pandemic is at the epicenter of the economy’s ills.”
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