Over 5 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week.

The nation's unemployment rate remained steady at 3.5%.

Figures released Thursday show the jobless rate went up by about 251,000 people from July to August.

The program gives direct payments to farmers.

The loss of the federal government's emergency unemployment payouts brings the state's average unemployment check to $340 a week.

The stock market posted big gains this year, despite many challenges from the pandemic. It's unclear what that means for the economy in 2021.

The Federal Reserve pointed to weak business investment and exports as reasons for making the cut.

The Labor Department reported 963,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits, less than economists had expected.

Tech and IT companies say they face skilled-worker shortages but critics say visas allow firms to undercut U.S. employees.

Japanese media called it the worst drop since World War II, but the government says a similar slide hit in 1980.

The U.S. has gained an average of 211,000 jobs per month for the past three months.

Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday the new approach is more flexible. He noted if inflation spiked, the Fed could still make adjustments.

The organization's director-general said leaders must keep a "vigilant eye on the virus" so they can re-implement measures if cases increase again.

The law was passed by Congress less than a day after the program's lending window ended.

But carriers said they could bring the jobs back if they get more government aid.

White House negotiators and Democratic leaders are expected to continue working toward a solution over the weekend.

Sources say the White House and congressional Democrats informally agreed to a so-called "clean" stopgap funding bill to keep the government funded.

Tens of thousands of travel workers could lose their jobs starting Thursday.

U.S. stock futures and Asian shares fell overnight.

The number of weekly applications for jobless aid, a rough measure of the pace of layoffs, has fallen by more than half since January.

Almost half the jobs furloughed are expected to be flight attendants.

New data shows first increase in weekly claims in a month.

The number of weekly jobless claims has declined steadily since the year began.

The company is suffering a drop in sales as many venues that serve its products have been forced to close during the pandemic.