U.S. stocks fell on Thursday following the release of weaker-than-expected jobless claims data at a time when lawmakers struggle to push through new fiscal stimulus before year-end.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 36 points, or 0.1 percent. The S&P 500 also dipped by 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite eked out a small gain, CNBC reports.
Initial weekly jobless claims jumped to 853,000 last week, topping a Dow Jones estimate of 730,000. That marks the highest number of initial claims being filed since September and the first time since October that they topped 800,000.
“Given the recent behavior of initial claims, we will likely see further increases in continuing claims going forward,” wrote Thomas Simons, money market economist at Jefferies. “Evidence has been building indicating that claims hit an inflection point in early November due to rising coronavirus case numbers and forced the imposition of social distancing policies that really hurt the service sector of the economy.”
