The world’s largest economy suffered serious losses in 2020 and it is not surprising as the coronavirus pandemic affected many industries. Unfortunately, millions of people across the country lost their jobs in 2020, and some of them are still looking for a job. It won’t be easy to solve this problem in a short period of time. Hopefully, new claims for jobless benefits came in a bit less than expected last week. Nevertheless, the overall situation is quite complicated.
Based on the information provided by the Labor Department, first-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 779,000 for the week ended January 30.
It is worth mentioning that, jobless claims fell to the lowest point since November 28 as the U.S. economy continues its slow recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Importantly, the total represented a drop of 33,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised count of 812,000.
People should take into account that, continuing claims also continued to drift lower, falling 193,000 from the previous reporting week to 4.6 million. As a reminder, the pandemic-era peak for continuing claims was 24.9 million in early May. It is worth noting that, continuing claims data runs a week behind first-time jobless claims. In addition, the total of those receiving benefits dropped sharply, declining by nearly half a million to 17.8 million. Interestingly, that reflects a continuing decline of those getting benefits as part of the pandemic-related programs that were slightly offset by those on extended benefits.
Jobless claims and Biden administration
As can be seen from the information stated above, unemployment remains a serious issue. Hopefully, the Biden administration is working on a plan to push through additional stimulus checks to Americans as well as enhanced compensation.
Importantly, last week’s decline in jobless claims came largely due to a drop of more than 55,000 in Illinois. However, much of that drop was offset by a gain of more than 46,000 in California, according to unadjusted numbers.
People should take into consideration that, the report came one day ahead of Friday’s Labor Department release of the nonfarm payrolls count for January.
It won’t be easy to return to pre-coronavirus results. However, the new administration is willing to take measures to support people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This way it will be easier to manage the number of jobless claims in the long run. Moreover, companies should join forces with the new administration to find the best solution.
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