Economy lost 140K jobs in December as pandemic worsened

The economy shed 140,000 jobs in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, the first losses since April, reflecting renewed economic closures amid a worsening coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 21.5 million people in the United States and killed more than 365,000.

The unemployment rate remained flat at 6.7%.

"It has never been more true that the path of the economy depends on the course of the virus, and right now, new Covid outbreaks across the nation are threatening to bring the economy down with it," said...