Workers file 744,000 new jobless claims in troubling sign for COVID recovery

The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits stubbornly jumped again last week even amid hopes that the labor market was getting back on track, the feds said Thursday.

Last week’s 744,000 initial jobless claims brought the total for the COVID-19 pandemic to about 79 million — a number more than triple the size of North Korea’s population. New filings have ticked up for two consecutive weeks after dropping below the pre-coronavirus record of 695,000 in mid-March.