CNN News:美国首次申请失业金人数下降 但裁员潮仍在继续

Good news, bad news for the U.S. economy. First the good. The Labor Department says initial jobless claims have dropped. This is the number of Americans who are asking the government for help because they've just lost their jobs in layoffs or business cutbacks. The latest figure for this is from last week and it's 837,000 people. How can that be good? Well it's a lower number than many economists expected and it's the lowest number of initial jobless claims since the coronavirus pandemic struck the U.S. economy in March.
So that's a sign. Things could be turning around. Also, consumer confidence, a measure of how Americans feel about the economy is up. The business organization that monitors this says consumer confidence jumped in September by the biggest margin since 2003. The index is still lower than it was before the pandemic, but it shows that people feel that the economy and jobs are moving in the right direction. And this can lead them to spend more money driving the economy forward.

Now for the bad news. The airline industry is struggling. American and United, two major players in the industry say they plan to cut a total of 32,000 jobs. Travel restrictions and concerns about coronavirus have taken their toll on the airlines.
Members of Congress and the Trump Administration have been trying to work out another stimulus deal that would involve trillions more in government spending and could include $25 billion in additional assistance for airlines. If that government stimulus bill passes, airline industry executives say that some of the layoffs could be avoided. But we don't know yet if politicians will reach an agreement. The airline industry received $25 billion earlier this year in a stimulus package that passed in March.
It's not the only group that's hurting. With fewer people visiting theme parks and staying at resorts, Disney says it plans to lay off 28,000 people. The U.S. Labor Department's monthly jobs report is due out today. It gives a snapshot of the unemployment rate and the number of jobs added or lost. That could give us more insight on where things stand on the economy.