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New US jobless claims for the week that ended Saturday totaled 965,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, signaling the labor market s rebound weakened through the end of the holiday season.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a reading of 800,000 claims.
The data shows a sizable increase from the previous week s revised number of 784,000. The jump was the biggest since March.
Continuing claims, which track Americans receiving unemployment benefits, rose to 5.3 million for the week that ended January 2. That s above the consensus economist forecast of 5.3 million.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits jumped last week as rising COVID-19 cases continued to cut into the labor market s recovery.