Jobless Numbers Fall To Close Out 2020

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits is dropping.

The Labor Department reported 787-thousand filed initial unemployment claims last week, which is down about 19-thousand from the previous week.

It’s also way below what economists were expecting, which was 828-thousand.

While the number is down, pretty much every week since the pandemic began has been higher than previous record highs.

The government reported 5.2 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits.

The largest increase in claims for the week ending December 19th were in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado, Georgia and Florida. The largest decreases were in California, New York, Ohio, Kansas and Texas.