People over 75, front-line essential workers should get vaccine next, CDC panel says

Some 885,000 workers in the United States filed for unemployment insurance last week, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday, as the pandemic continues to upend the labor market. 

This is an uptick of 23,000 from the previous week’s figure. 

More than 20 million people are still receiving some form of unemployment benefits through all programs as of the week ending Nov. 28, according to the Department of Labor. For the comparable week in 2019, that figure was 1.8 million. 

The latest economic data comes as COVID-19 cases continue to climb across the country. The U.S. hit a record high on Wednesday of 247,403 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3,656 additional deaths from the disease. 

The latest tally of weekly unemployment claims also comes as lawmakers have struggled to reach a deal on new relief. On Wednesday, after months of stalled negotiations, a source told ABC News that congressional leaders were close to a reaching a deal that could include enhanced federal unemployment benefits.

The national unemployment rate in the U.S. was 6.7% last month, according to the Department of Labor's most-recent jobs report. In February, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. unemployment rate was 3.5%.

ABC News' Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report.

Jennifer Mendoza, of Grapevine, Texas, gave birth to her fourth child in October.

A few days after coming home from the hospital with her healthy baby girl, Mendoza developed breathing problems.

Mendoza returned to the emergency room and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. She never went home.

Mendoza died on Dec. 3, her 34th birthday, according to a report by Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA. She is survived by her husband and four young children.

"Her kids were everything," Mendoza's brother, David Mendoza, told WFAA in a recent interview. "To her last minute, she still kept fighting for them."

"I’m going to tell them every day for the rest of their lives that their mother was the most beautiful person on this earth," he added, "the most compassionate and the most big-hearted."

The United States is on the cusp of a second vaccine for COVID-19, with a key Food and Drug Administration panel set to review data Thursday from Moderna that suggests its two-dose vaccine is safe and 94% effective.

An endorsement from the independent federal advisers would pave the way for an official green light by the FDA to begin distributing next week some 5.9 million Moderna doses to the nation’s front-line health care workers and nursing home residents. An internal assessment by the FDA already found that the Moderna data show the benefits likely outweigh the risks.

The Moderna batch would be in addition to the 6.4 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that started to roll out this week after being the first to get emergency-use authorization.

One primary difference is that the Modern vaccine requires fewer specific handling instructions because it does not need ultra-cold storage conditions like the Pfizer/BioNTech one.

Moderna also is seeking authorization to use its vaccine on people ages 18 and older, whereas Pfizer’s enrollment of older teens in clinical trials this fall paved the way for authorization of anyone 16 and older.

ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

Brigitte Macron, the 67-year-old wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, is self-isolating and will be tested for COVID-19 soon, although she is not showing any symptoms, her office said in a statement Thursday.

France's presidential palace had announced earlier that Emmanuel Macron, 42, tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating.

"Brigitte Macron is a contact case and has no symptoms of the disease," her office said. "She also tested negative for Covid-19 on Tuesday, December 15, before making a visit to a pediatric ward at Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris. She has placed herself in isolation and will continue her work by videoconference. She will be tested very soon as a precaution."

ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud contributed to this report.