The Labor Department released its statistics for the week ending on December 26th. It showed another 787,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits last week. Before the Trump/Pandemic recession, the number filing each week was significantly less than 300,000. Since March, the numbers have been over 700,000 -- and most weeks well over that number.
Here is the official Labor Department statement:
In the week ending December 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 787,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 803,000 to 806,000. The 4-week moving average was 836,750, an increase of 17,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 818,250 to 819,000.