Jobless br Claims Increase, for First Time Since br October to 742,000.br The jobless claims data was released br by the Department of Labor on Thursday.br The increase is significantly more than the br 710,000 claims that economists had predicted.br Analysts have expressed br concerns that the labor market br recovery continues to be unsteady ...br ... amid what seems to be a new br wave of coronavirus infections.br Eight months into this crisis, there continues to be tremendous economic uncertainty that’s regularly forcing hundreds of thousands into unemployment, AnnElizabeth Konkel, Economist at br Indeed Hiring Lab, via NBC News.br Since October, deaths due to COVD-19 br have increased by 42 percent.