Jobless claims edge up as latest COVID-19 wave takes toll
CBSN
The number of U.S. workers filing for first-time unemployment benefits edged up to 332,000 last week from a pandemic low, a sign that rising COVID-19 infections could be weighing on the economy.
The numbers are an increase from 312,000 the prior week — the lowest weekly claims figure since the pandemic slammed the economy in March 2020.
Jobless claims rose 4,000 in Louisiana, evidence that Hurricane Ida has led to widespread job losses in that state. Ida will likely nick the economy's growth in the current July-September quarter, though repairs and rebuilding efforts are expected to regain those losses in the coming months. Ida shut down oil refineries in Louisiana and Mississippi about two weeks ago and left more than 1 million homes and businesses without electricity. But Ida's impact was limited: Applications for jobless aid fell slightly in Mississippi.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.