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US Jobless Benefit Claims Hold Steady

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - U.S. unemployment benefit claims declined slightly last
   week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, but remain elevated by
   historical standards, as the world's biggest economy continues to face
   headwinds wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.

   A total of 751,000 jobless workers filed new applications for
   unemployment compensation, down 7,000 from the revised figure of the
   week before. It was the third straight week the number fell below
   800,000 but remained above the highest pre-pandemic figure in records
   that date back to the 1960s.

   A total of 7.3 million workers remain unemployed, a 5% jobless rate,
   the Labor Department said. The figure is a marked improvement from the
   pandemic low point -- a 14.7% jobless rate in April.

   A week ago, the country's Commerce Department reported that the U.S.
   economy surged 7.4% from July to September.

   But U.S. economic growth is expected to slow in the last three months
   of the year. Some businesses are facing closing restrictions again as
   they did earlier in the year, as the number of new coronavirus cases
   surges to a record of more than 100,000 a day.

   Government officials have been reluctant to curtail business activity
   as occurred in the March-to-June period during an earlier period of
   rising infections. But some consumers have shunned in-store shopping or
   eating out in restaurants, and many entertainment events have been
   canceled for months, leading to continued layoffs.

   Even before Tuesday's presidential and congressional elections,
   President Donald Trump and fractious Republican and Democratic
   lawmakers were unable to reach a new deal for about $2 trillion in new
   coronavirus relief aid, including federal boosts to less generous state
   unemployment compensation.

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