A day after a report stated that private employers eliminated 250,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department reported that the number of people getting unemployment benefits rose to a 26-year high.

Workers receiving jobless benefits increased to 4.09 million for the week ended Nov. 22, up from 3.998 million in the prior week, Bloomberg reported. Initial jobless claims fell to 509,000 for the week ended Nov. 29, which included the Thanksgiving holiday, but the four-week moving average of claims rose to 524,500 from 518,250.

Meanwhile AT&T Inc. and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. announced that they will shed thousands of jobs, the Associated Press reported.

AT&T will cut 4 percent of its work force, or 12,000 jobs. The cuts will take place in December and throughout 2009.

DuPont, parent company of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., said it will cut 2,500 jobs, mostly in positions tied to the U.S. and European automotive and construction markets. It also will drop 4,000 contractors by the end of this year.

Locally, Gannett Co. Inc. shed 41 jobs this week at The Des Moines Register as part of a plan to cut 10 percent of its work force across all its operations. Nine full-time staff members in the newsroom were laid off, including longtime cartoonist Brian Duffy, and two accepted voluntary buyouts. The Register also won’t fill 15 open positions.