751,000 seek US jobless benefits as virus hobbles economy The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 751,000, a still-historically high level that shows that many employers keep cutting jobs in the face of the accelerating pandemicWASHINGTON -- The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 751,000, a still-historically high level that shows that many employers keep cutting jobs in the face of the accelerating pandemic. Eight months after the pandemic flattened the economy, weekly jobless claims still point to a stream of layoffs. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive traditional unemployment benefits declined to 7.3 million. All told, the Labor Department said 21.5 million people are receiving some form of unemployment benefits, though the figure may be inflated by double-counting by states. Without additional federal aid, millions of unemployed Americans likely will lose all their jobless benefits in coming weeks and months, probably forcing them to scale back their spending.

Source: ABC News November 05, 2020 13:40 UTC