A small bright spot for the workforce today as fewer people filed jobless claims than at any other time during the pandemic.

Even as coronavirus cases rise, CNBC reports that this is “a sign that hiring is continuing if at a slower pace.” Yahoo Finance writes:

New claims have not yet broken below 700,000 since the start of the pandemic, though they have come down significantly from the pandemic-era high of nearly 7 million. Before the pandemic, new jobless claims were averaging around 220,000 per week.

Tomorrow the Labor Department will release the jobs report for November.