The pace of weekly jobless claims south of the border jumped last week, after filings caught up with a decline due in part to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Figures released Thursday morning by the U.S. Labor Department revealed first-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 853,000, an increase from the upwardly revised 716,000 total a week before Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 730,000.
This was the highest weekly total since Sept. 19 and reflects the job market’s struggles lately as coronavirus cases have spiked and local and state governments have imposed restrictions on some activities.
Continuing claims increased by 230,000 to 5.76 million, the first time that number has gone up since late August.