The number of new unemployment claims jumped last week. New unemployment claims are the latest sign of the toll the coronavirus pandemic continues to take on the economy. The new unemployment claims are up more than 50,000 from the previous week, and denote the largest increase in first-time jobless applications since August. Additionally, the number of unemployment claims has been above the pre-pandemic one-week record of 695,000 for over 30 weeks.
See "Jobless Claims Increase to 898,000", Eli Rosenberg , The Washington Post, October 15, 2020