New York (CNN Business)The recovery in the American job market is still painfully slow. Another 778,000 people filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis.
That was more than the 735,000 initial jobless claims that economists were expecting, and it's also higher than last week's revised number of 748,000. It's the second straight week that first-time claims rose.
This is the first time that jobless claims were up for two consecutive weeks since late July. And the 778,000 figure was the highest level in five weeks.
The latest unemployment benefits figures were released by the Labor Department on Wednesday, a day earlier than usual because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The report also showed that continued jobless claims, which include people who have applied for benefits for at least two weeks in a row, was 6.1 million on a seasonally adjusted basis. That was down from the previous week.
And 4.5 million more people had received Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits from the government as of the week of November 7. There is a two-week lag with PEUC data.
Overall, more than 20.4 million Americans were still receiving some form of unemployment benefits as of November 7. That's an increase of more than 135,000 from a week ago.
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Vehicles line up for food distribution in Clermont, Florida, on November 21.
Hide Caption
1 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Hundreds of homeless people wait in line to receive food from the Los Angeles Mission on the day before Thanksgiving.
Hide Caption
2 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers prepare Thanksgiving meals at the Salvation Army in Orlando.
Hide Caption
3 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Two women take home free meals after waiting in a long line at a high school in South Gate, California, on November 25.
Hide Caption
4 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers in Denver work at the Food Bank of the Rockies on November 25.
Hide Caption
5 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Members of the Indiana National Guard assist food bank volunteers as they distribute Thanksgiving meals in Bloomington, Indiana, on November 20.
Hide Caption
6 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
People wait in line to receive food at the Bay Area Rescue Mission's Thanksgiving Giveaway in Richmond, California.
Hide Caption
7 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers distribute turkeys and other foods in Clermont, Florida.
Hide Caption
8 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Cars line up as the Pantry 279 food bank hands out Thanksgiving meals in Bloomington, Indiana.
Hide Caption
9 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Cars line up at a food distribution site sponsored by local churches and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.
Hide Caption
10 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
A volunteer puts on gloves before packing boxes of food outside the Second Harvest Food Bank in Irvine, California, on November 19.
Hide Caption
11 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers direct traffic at a food distribution site in Clermont, Florida.
Hide Caption
12 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
The Food Bank for New York City hosted a pop-up food pantry in September.
Hide Caption
13 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Paulina Bastidas-Yale helps distribute food at a Boston church in September.
Hide Caption
14 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Boxes of cereal are ready to be distributed at the Hope Rescue Mission in Reading, Pennsylvania, in August.
Hide Caption
15 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteer Joseph Cunliffe holds a bag of bread to put in someone's car in Robesonia, Pennsylvania, in August.
Hide Caption
16 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Drivers line up for a pop-up grocery event in Mankato, Minnesota, in July.
Hide Caption
17 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
A volunteer hands two dozen eggs to a Helping Harvest employee to give to someone in their car in Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania, in June.
Hide Caption
18 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers load plastic bags with food in Everett, Massachusetts, during a weekly food pantry service run by Grace Ministries of the North Shore.
Hide Caption
19 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
People line up for food assistance in Waltham, Massachusetts, in April.
Hide Caption
20 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
People wait in their cars for the San Antonio Food Bank to begin distributing food in April.
Hide Caption
21 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers at the Capital Area Food Bank pack up boxes of food to be distributed in Washington, DC.
Hide Caption
22 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers and city employees prepare to hand out bags of food at a drive-through site in Opa-locka, Florida, in April. The food was provided by the food bank Feeding South Florida.
Hide Caption
23 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Gladys Socop helps to bag up food while volunteering at a pop-up food pantry in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Hide Caption
24 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
National Guard members help pack food boxes at the Nourish Pierce County food bank in Tacoma, Washington.
Hide Caption
25 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
A line of cars waits to receive food at a distribution site in Van Nuys, California, in April.
Hide Caption
26 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Bags of fruit await residents during a food drive in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Hide Caption
27 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
A volunteer in Phoenix hands over a box donated by St. Mary's Food Bank in April. The drive-through was set up for the general public on the campus of Phoenix College.
Hide Caption
28 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers with Forgotten Harvest load food into vehicles at a mobile pantry in Detroit.
Hide Caption
29 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteer Maria Cunningham sorts through bags of food before distributing them at a church in Des Moines, Iowa, in April.
Hide Caption
30 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteers in Orlando hand out food from the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.
Hide Caption
31 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Cars line up in a mall parking lot that was the site of a drive-through food pantry in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Hide Caption
32 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Volunteer David Mack hands a woman food at the First AME Church in Athens, Georgia.
Hide Caption
33 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Donated supplies wait for distribution at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, DC.
Hide Caption
34 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
A volunteer holds fruit while helping to distribute food at Pantry 279 in Ellettsville, Indiana.
Hide Caption
35 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
An employee of the Food Bank for New York City transports a pallet of groceries in April.
Hide Caption
36 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
Treasure Coast Food Bank volunteer Lynn Goeke loads a box of apples into a vehicle during a drive-through food distribution in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Hide Caption
37 of 38
Photos: With people out of work, food banks are stepping up
People line up for food at Sharing & Caring Hands, a charity in Minneapolis, in March.
Hide Caption
38 of 38
The bleak jobs data is yet another sign of the disconnect between the stock market and broader economy.
The Dow just a hit a new all-time high above 30,000 Tuesday but many average Americans are still struggling — especially that government stimulus checks have stopped coming and Covid-19 cases are on the rise again.
"More stringent social distancing policies are being put in place each day. Stay-at-home measures, school closures, and limitations for businesses to operate are going to lead to more layoffs over the winter. It is going to get worse before it gets better," said Thomas Simons, money market economist with Jefferies, in a report.
There are growing hopes that President-elect Joe Biden will focus on forging a new stimulus deal with Congress after his inauguration in January and that a Covid-19 vaccine could be widely available in 2021. But that does nothing for people who are out of work now.
"It is quite clear that the intensification of the pandemic, the pullback by the public and government mandated lockdowns are clearly combining to cause an increase in first time claims," said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist with RSM US, in a report Wednesday morning.
"Despite the potential arrival of a mass produced and distributed vaccine, this economy demands fiscal aid now," he added.
