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803,000 Americans File for Unemployment Benefits, Keeping Claims Historically
High

VOA News

   Some 803,000 U.S. workers filed for unemployment compensation last
   week, a historically high level but 89,000 fewer than the previous
   week, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday, as the coronavirus
   crisis continues to weaken the American labor market nine months after
   the pandemic began.

   Nearly 10 million of the 22 million workers who lost jobs remain
   unemployed in the U.S. The jobless rate was 6.7% in November and many
   economists say the figure could remain elevated for months. Hiring in
   November slowed for a fifth straight month, with employers adding the
   fewest jobs since April.

   The recent weekly claims figures are well below the 6.9 million record
   number of claims filed in late March as the coronavirus swept into the
   U.S. but remain above the highest pre-pandemic level in records going
   back to the 1960s.

   U.S. employers have called back millions of workers who were laid off
   during business shutdowns earlier this year, yet some hard-hit
   businesses have been slow to ramp up their operations again or have
   closed permanently, leaving workers idled or searching for new
   employment as coronavirus cases surge again.

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