Initial unemployment insurance claims rose to 965,000 last week amid signs of a slowdown in employment due to pandemic restrictions, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
The total was worse than the Wall Street estimates of 800,000 and above the total of 784,000 of the previous week.
Markets reacted little to the number, as the decline in economic activity is expected to provide Washington with more stimulus. Elected President Joe Biden announced later Thursday his hope for another package that is likely to cost more than $ 1 trillion.
Future prices continued to indicate a fractional initial gain on Wall Street.
The unemployment rate for the week ending January 9 was another sign of economic unrest caused by restrictions on activity to combat the pandemic. The total was the highest since the week of August 22, when just over 1 million claims were filed.
Continued claims were also higher, rising by 199,000 to 5.27 million. This figure is one week behind the weekly claims total and has increased for the first time since the end of November.
The total number of those receiving government benefits has declined sharply despite the increase in weekly numbers. That level dropped to 18.4 million from 19.2 million in the previous week. The data runs two weeks behind the weekly claims total. The decline was mainly due to the decline in those applying for emergency pandemic claims, although it is still higher than the 2.18 million who received benefits a year earlier.
The increase in claims is spread across a handful of states, mostly those with stricter restrictions on businesses.
According to unconfirmed data, Illinois, where Chicago climbed on restaurants, saw a jump of 51,280. Other big winners were California, which can not even eat outside and increased the number of claims by 20,587, an increase of 13%. New York rose 15,559.
However, several states with relatively loose restrictions have also seen noticeable gains. Florida more than doubled its claims to 50,747, while Texas had an increase of 14,282.
Lately, there are signs that the profit that started in May has started to cool down.
In December, non-farm wage states declined for the first time during the recovery of lows in the Covid market, by 140,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.7%.
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that business contacts in the central bank’s twelve districts have a reduction in service delivery and job-filling problems. Economists generally see the economy starting slowly in 2021, but gaining momentum as the year progresses and the Covid-19 vaccine spreads.