At least 712,000 new unemployment claims were filed in the week ending November 28, according to data released Thursday morning by the U.S. Department of Labor. That’s a decrease of 75,000 from the previous week’s numbers, which were revised up by 9,000, from 778,000 to 787,000. Thursday’s number is lower than expected and the first time in two weeks that the numbers have come down, yet is still higher than any pre-pandemic record.
According to a recent General Accounting Office report, the Labor Department unemployment claims numbers are not an accurate estimate of the number of individuals claiming benefits during the pandemic because of backlogs in processing a historic volume of claims, among other data issues. Even so, the numbers remain the best weekly estimate available.
Many of the benefits being recorded in the unemployment claims numbers will expire at the end of the month unless Congress passes a new stimulus bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that they’re backing a new $908 billion pandemic relief bill introduced this week by a bipartisan group of Senate and House lawmakers, a sign of movement in a stalemate that has dogged Congress for months. The bill is still almost a trillion dollars less than what Pelosi and Democrats had been calling for, and more than what Republican leaders have said they’re willing to sign off on. It currently remains unclear when the proposal will be ready for a vote on the House or Senate floors, or if Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would permit it to reach the Senate floor for a vote.
Over 700,000 new unemployment claims filed last week; new COVID-19 stimulus bill developments
