Unemployment claims dip to another pandemic low
CBSN
The number of Americans applying for jobless aid continues to drop, signaling that the job market is recovering as more people are vaccinated against COVID-19 and consumers resume normal activities.
Some 385,000 people filed for unemployment aid last week, a drop of 20,000 from the previous week and the lowest level since March 14, 2020, the Labor Department said Thursday. Another 76,000 claims were filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federal program for self-employed and gig workers. "New jobless claims have sunk to a fresh pandemic low, falling for a fifth straight week," Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said in an email. "The seasonally adjusted headline number is now below 400,000, which has often been seen as psychologically important during past economic downturns."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.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.