Source: Reuters
“The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits stood at a two-month high in mid-October at the time when the Labor Department would have been conducting its survey of U.S. households for the monthly employment report that has been held up by the recently ended government shutdown. Continued claims for jobless benefits — those receiving benefits beyond an initial week of relief — rose to 1.957 million in the week ended October 18, updated figures posted to a Labor Department website showed on Tuesday. That was up 10,000 from the prior week and was the highest since early August. It was up notably from the 1.916 million level in the week ended September 13, the last week of data to have been reported prior to the start of the shutdown on October 1.” (11/18/25)