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The cost of consumer goods and services rose modestly in November but inflation more broadly was still quite low, reaffirming the economy faces little threat of building price pressures in the near future. The consumer price index increased 0.2% last month.

U.S. stock indexes headed lower early Thursday, ahead of a decision by Food and Drug Administration committee on a vaccine approval, and further talks in Washington on another financial-aid package to combat the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, while U.S. weekly jobless claims rose to a three month high.

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped in early December to a nearly three-month, owing to an increase in layoffs after a record surge coronavirus cases as well as to filing delays after the Thanksgiving holiday. Initial jobless claims jumped 137,000 to 853,000.

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a person familiar with the decision, bringing a respected infectious diseases expert to the helm of a critical but demoralized agency that has struggled in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.