First-time U.S. unemployment claims top 750,000 this week

The number of U.S. workers filing first-time unemployment claims last week totaled 751,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. 

The number was slightly higher than expected, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

However, the weekly number continues to decline amid the coronavirus pandemic that has throttled the global economy. This week's number is lower than last week's. And this was the third straight week that the jobless claims number was under 800,000. 

The federal government on Friday will release the non-farm payrolls report, which is forecast to show a gain of more than 500,000 non-farm jobs during October.