Another 885,000 Americans Filed for Unemployment Benefits Last Week.<br />The figures released by the Labor Department <br />were not only an increase from the prior week.<br />but they were also higher than economists' expectations of 800,000 claims.<br />In the past five weeks, this is the fourth time that first-time jobless claims increased compared to the prior week.<br />Continuing claims fell to 5.5 million.<br />As of Nov. 28, over 20.6 million Americans have filed for <br />some sort of government unemployment benefits.<br />Out of those people, over 14 million applied for help <br />via the government's pandemic assistance programs, <br />which are set to expire at the end of the year.<br />Congress has yet to strike a deal <br />on a new coronavirus relief bill
