US Jobless Benefit Claims Edge Higher after Dropping for 6 Straight Weeks

WASHINGTON - More jobless U.S. workers sought benefits last week, ending a string of six straight weeks of a falling number of claims, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The world’s biggest economy is on a path toward recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, but 412,000 newly laid-off workers filed for unemployment compensation last week, up 37,000 from the revised figure of the week before, the agency said. It was the first time in three weeks that the weekly figure topped 400,000.    State governors and municipal officials across the U.S. have been ending coronavirus restrictions, in many cases allowing businesses for the first time in a year to completely reopen to customers. That could lead to more hiring of workers.