More than half a million people filed for unemployment insurance for the first time in the week ending Nov. 8, according to the latest data from the US Labor Department. That’s the highest level since September 2001.
Economists expected initial jobless claims to rise to 484,000 from the 481,000 reported for the previous week, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.
Continuing claims filed in the week rose to a more than 25-year high of 3.9m.
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