US Jobless Claims Rise to 230,000 - Highest Since Mid-November
What Happened: According to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, 230,000 Americans claimed first-time jobless benefits over the last week, a 23,000 increase from the previous week and the highest number since mid-November, 2021. The weekly applications have risen over four of the last five weeks. Many economists believe that this increase is coinciding with the spread of the omicron variant of Covid-19. In total, 1.6 million collected unemployment aid for th