The U.S. Department of Labor reports 787,000 new jobless claims were filed in the week ending October 17. While the number is lower than expectations and the lowest number since March, it still represents the 31st straight week of historically high unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, while the lower number, which is 55,000 less than the previous week’s revised level of 842,000, could be interpreted as showing more people are finding work, there are also concerns that unemployment numbers are coming down because some people have run out of their benefits rather than gone back to work. Thursday’s report also shows that 23,150,427 people are currently receiving unemployment benefits under state and federal programs.
COVID-19 numbers
Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections and deaths.
Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 41,310,004
Global deaths: 1,132,676. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 222,220.
Number of countries/regions: at least 189
Total patients recovered globally: 28,167,502
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 8,338,413 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 222,220. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 33,371.
U.S. total patients recovered: 3,323,354
U.S. total people tested: 127,825,177
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 887,658 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. That ranks third in the world after Maharashtra, India, which has 1,617,658 reported cases, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, which has 1,073,261 reported cases.