Higher U.S. jobless claims fuel economic angst
A surprise spike in new weekly U.S. unemployment applications - added more gloom Thursday to a stock market already under pressure.
The number of Americans who joined the unemployment line last week rose to 898,000, keeping new jobless claims consistently above the peak set during the financial crisis.
Record high jobless levels are fueling fears the lingering health crisis is inflicting lasting damage on the labor market that could be hard to reverse.
The total number of people receiving jobless aid through the end of September was 25.3 million...
And millions of Americans reported in September they believed that their jobs were gone - permanently.
High unemployment and a resurging health crisis that's impacting nearly half of all U.S. states now threatens to derail an economic recovery from the deepest recession in decades.
Any help for struggling consumers and businesses appears to be a ways off as Republicans and Democrats in Washington continue to bicker over how large the next economic stimulus package should be.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Thursday told CNBC the Trump administration is not giving up on economic relief and he'll keep up negotiations, but he once again cast doubt on any deal coming together before Election Day.
In the meantime, tens of thousands of workers in the airline industry have been furloughed without another round of aid...And budgets for state and local governments have been busted - leading to even more layoffs - which experts warn will only increase without federal dollars to keep Americans off the unemployment line.
