Workers file 770,000 new jobless claims as COVID-19 layoffs stubbornly increase

The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits stubbornly increased last week as the labor market’s coronavirus crisis reached the one-year mark, the feds said Thursday. The latest batch of 770,000 initial jobless claims brought the total for the COVID-19 pandemic to nearly 81.9 million --a number equivalent to more than half the nation’s workforce. Weekly...