Spotlight: U.S. weekly jobless claims rise for first time since March amid resurgence in COVID-19 cases

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of initial jobless claims in the United States rose to 1.4 million last week amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, reversing nearly four months of consecutive declines in new applications, and raising uncertainty over the prospect of economic recovery.

In the week ending July 18, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased by 109,000 from a revised 1,307,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.