For food banks in South Florida and across the country right now, supply chain issues, rising fuel prices and inflation are making it difficult for them to feed people in need.

Thursday's report from the Labor Department said that initial claims for jobless aid dropped from 787,000 the week before. Before the virus paralyzed the economy in March, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits each week had typically amounted to roughly 225,000. "Thanksgiving seasonals likely explain the drop'' in jobless claims last week, Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a research note. The total number of people who are continuing to receive traditional state unemployment benefits declined to 5.5 million from 6.1 million. But it also indicates that many of the unemployed have used up their state benefits, which typically expire after six months.