By Noreen Burke
Investing.com – The number of Americans applying for initial unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose to 1.416 million last week, their first weekly increase since April, as the resurgence in new Covid-19 cases undermined the recovery in the labor market.
The Labor Department reported an increase of 109,000 from a revised figure of 1.307 million for the previous week.
The number of continuing claims, which are reported with a one-week lag to initial claims, fell more sharply than expected to 16.197 million. The previous week's figure was also revised downwards to 17.304 million. The decline in continuing claims is, however, linked not just to the number of people finding new jobs, but those dropping out of the workforce by stopping their search for work.
"Sadly, (the) permanent unemployment rate is rising at an accelerated pace and there is spread up the food chain on lay-offs to those who thought they escaped (the) first wave," said Grant Thornton chief economist Diane Swonk via Twitter.