Another 709,000 Americans Filed for Unemployment Benefits Last Week

Another 709,000 Americans Filed for Unemployment Benefits Last Week.

The Labor Department released the report on Thursday.

According to CNN, last week's number of first-time claims was slightly smaller than economists predicted.

Additionally, another 298,154 people who don't qualify for regular state aid filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

With both programs combined, first-time claims were at 1 million, which was a new low.

Continued jobless claims were down from the previous week at 6.8 million.

Pandemic assistance programs are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress works to extend them.

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This would leave millions scrambling to adapt ... either facing a halt in unemployment benefits or the challenge of enrolling in a different benefits program amid an already clogged system.

, Indeed Hiring Lab economist AnnElizabeth Konkel, via CNN.

With continued tumult in Washington, the possibility of these programs ending looms large, Indeed Hiring Lab economist AnnElizabeth Konkel, via CNN