The U.S. Department of Labor reported that there were 803,000 initial unemployment claims last week, quite a difference from the previous figure of 885,000 but still nearly four times higher than what was reported around the same time last year. The three hardest hit states were California (156,337), Illinois (153,976) and Pennsylvania (46,098), with New York in fourth (40,015). As of the most recent data, there are roughly 20 million people nationwide who remain on some form of unemployment benefit.

The high rate reflects the new shutdowns in the face of rising COVID-19 infections, though as vaccines make their way through the population, it is likely that we will see shutdowns end as well. This may take longer than initially thought, however, as CNBC reports that while 1 million people have been vaccinated already, the goal for December was 20 million.