WASHINGTON — The number of laid-off workers who are continuing to draw unemployment checks jumped more than expected to 4.6 million at the end of December and is likely to keep climbing this year _ fresh evidence that people are finding it increasingly difficult to get a new job amid a deepening recession.
The Labor Department's report Thursday also said first-time applications for jobless benefits dropped to 467,000 last week. But economists largely described that decline as a distortion, reflecting the...
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