There was a trio of all-time highs in the data. A record number of new deaths -- more than 3,500 -- was reported Wednesday and there were more than 240,000 newly reported coronavirus cases. And the number of people in hospitals was at a high for the 11th day in a row.
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly increased last week as a relentless surge in new COVID-19 infections hobbled business operations, offering more evidence that the economy’s recovery from the pandemic recession was faltering.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 885,000 for the week ended Dec. 12, compared to 862,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 800,000 applications in the latest week.
Of course, that's only part of the damage done to our country by the malevolent, incompetent regime of Sore Loser Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump. It's going to be a long, hard slog for the Biden-Harris administration to turn things around.
