U.S. Unemployment Claims Rose to 853,000 Last Week

Worker applications for unemployment benefits rose sharply last week, an indication layoffs remain at a high level nearly nine months into the coronavirus pandemic.

Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, rose by 137,000 to a seasonally adjusted 853,000 in the week ended Dec. 5, the Labor Department said Thursday. That marked the highest level of applications since September, but was still well down from a peak of nearly seven million in late March.

Jobless claims have mostly trended down since the spring, when the pandemic caused widespread business shutdowns. That matches with other measures showing the economy is recovering, but at a slower pace in recent months.

Jobless claims data has been viewed as a bellwether for economists and policy makers for a half-century. However, the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, last month said jobless claims have contained inconsistent data because of the pandemic-related surge in applications and attempted fraud. The Labor Department said it doesn’t plan to change its methodology. Economists also caution the claims figures can be volatile from week to week, especially around holiday periods.

“Job destruction has not come to an end,” Andy Challenger, senior vice president at outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., said before Thursday’s data. “We might be gaining jobs overall, but thousands of people are losing their jobs every week because demand has not returned.”

The broader labor-market recovery is continuing, but showed signs of slowing in November. Employers added 245,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said last week. While it was the seventh consecutive month of gains, hiring has cooled. At November’s rate of job growth, employment wouldn’t return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.