Single father recounts unemployment struggles during the coronavirus pandemic

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Oklahoma father on camping out to get unemployment help amid pandemic

John Jolley, 58-year-old single father, discusses his unemployment struggles amid the coronavirus pandemic on ‘The Daily Briefing.’

A single father discussed his unemployment struggles during the coronavirus pandemic on "The Daily Briefing" Thursday, saying he's nervous about what the pandemic holds for the future.

"It's a dark feeling about what the future holds, Trace. You know, it's like we can get through these tough times, you know, if you know there's an end in sight. It's just, when is the end going to be?" John Jolly, 58, told guest host Trace Gallagher. "Maybe we get through June, July, August and then all of a sudden it tanks again in October. What happens then and how long is it going to be shut down?"

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Jolly camped out overnight with hundreds of people waiting for help from the state of Oklahoma's unemployment commission.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose for the first time in 16 weeks as fresh spikes in coronavirus cases undermined the country’s economic recovery.

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Initial weekly jobless claims totaled more than 1.4 million for the week ending July 18, according to data from the Labor Department, bringing the total number of claims to more than 52 million since coronavirus-related lockdowns began in March and marking the 18th week in a row that initial claims topped 1 million.

Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected 1.3 million new claims.

Jolly reflected on his family's dealings with hard times when putting the current pandemic in perspective.

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"I'm really fortunate, Trace. I mean, my grandparents lived through the Depression. They went through the Spanish flu. My dad was in World War II for five years in North Africa and Italy. And I grew up listening to them talk," Jolly said. "I spent a lot of time listening to them talk they were great storytellers, and they never once talked about the bad times. All they did was hitch up their pants and skirts and kept moving on. And that's what we all need to do."

Fox Business' Matthew Kazin contributed to this report.