US weekly unemployment claims rise to 778,000

Updated: Nov 25, 2020 / 07:46 AM EST

FILE – In this March 27, 2020, file photo, a man walks past the Cafe Du Monde restaurant, which was closed but has since reopened, in the French Quarter of New Orleans. President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a mangled U.S. economy, one that never fully healed from the coronavirus and could suffer again as new infections are climbing. The once robust recovery has shown signs of gasping after federal aid lapsed. Ten million remain jobless and more layoffs are becoming permanent. The Federal Reserve found that factory output dropped. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment rose last week to 778,000, increasing for the second week in a row as the U.S. recorded more than 12 million confirmed coronavirus cases this weekend.

The latest report released by the Labor Department Wednesday shows that the number of people filing for jobless benefits increased 30,000 people from the week before.

The number of people who are continuing to receive traditional unemployment benefits is now 6.07 million. It shows that more Americans are finding jobs and no longer receiving unemployment aid. But it also indicates that many jobless people have used up their state unemployment aid — which typically expires after six months — and have transitioned to a federal extended benefits program that lasts 13 more weeks.

The Conference Board, a business research group, reported Tuesday that consumer confidence weakened in November, pulled down by lowered expectations for the next six months.