Here’s what you need to know: A closed restaurant in Santa Barbara, Calif.Credit…Bryan Denton for The New York TimesNew claims for state unemployment benefits sharply increased last week as the resurgent pandemic continued to batter the economy.A total of 1.15 million workers filed initial claims for state unemployment benefits during the first full week of the new year, the Labor Department said. Another 284,000 claims were filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, an emergency federal program for freelancers, part-time workers and others normally ineligible for state jobless benefits. Neither figure is seasonally adjusted. On a seasonally adjusted basis, new …
