New unemployment claims in Florida down slightly

A separate Commerce Department report showed USA household spending rose in October but incomes dropped by more than forecast, owing in large part to a decline in government supplemental jobless benefits. That was down by less than 400 from the week before.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to 778,000, evidence that the US economy and job market remain under strain as coronavirus cases surge and colder weather heighten the risks.

Payments that are part of a federal program to aid those unemployed because of the ongoing pandemic will end this weekend under federal rules, affecting roughly 4,700 Kentuckians, the Kentucky Labor Cabinet said Tuesday in a news release. The report also showed that the previous week's figure was revised up by 6,000 to 748,000.

The consecutive rise in weekly claims shows that the resurgent coronavirus threatens to stall an economic rebound that was already moderating from a breakneck pace in the third quarter.

The job market faces additional hurdles as states and cities restrict business activity and hospitalizations spike. It was the second straight weekly increase in claims.

Syrian Army: Israel bombs Iranian forces for second time in a week
SANA said those strikes had killed three Syrian soldiers, while the Observatory said seven allied foreign fighters also died. The Israeli government and military declined to comment when approached by Bloomberg.

"There is a two-tier recovery from the pandemic recession where the top of society continues to spend as normal, while the bottom-half of the country sits in long lines at food banks with the opportunities for employment few and far between", said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in NY. President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a mangled US economy, one that never fully healed from the coronavirus and could suffer again as new infections are climbing.

Two programs passed in March under the federal CARES Act will expire just after Christmas: the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides up to 39 weeks of benefits for workers ineligible for regular unemployment insurance, including the self-employed, and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.

Both those programs expire on December 26. US Treasury prices rose.

-The economy expanded at a record 33.1% annualized pace in the third quarter, unrevised from the initial reading. Slower growth was underscored by a fifth report from the Commerce Department showing the goods trade deficit increased 1.2% to US$80.3 billion in October. At 76.9, confidence is the weakest in three months and coincides with the pickup in infection rates.