WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week, but the total number of those collecting benefits fell to the lowest level in eight months.

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The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week, but the total number of those collecting benefits fell to the lowest level in eight months

U.S. jobless claim applications for the week ending Dec. 6 climbed to 236,000 from the previous week’s 192,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday

The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Nov. 29 fell by 99,000 to 1.84 million, the government said

Applications for unemployment aid are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of t

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