Unemployment benefits: 730,000 Americans applied for unemployment claims last week

Unemployment benefits: 730,000 Americans applied for unemployment claims last week

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The decline in Ohio and Texas was “due to the deep freeze that has settled across the country,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, although that does not explain the much larger decline in warmer California.

“Either way, there are always this time of year distortions caused by holidays and weather due to jobless claims, so investors should expect the next two weeks to be an increase in mussels,” he said. .

Despite the surprising decline, the labor market has not been in the pandemic for nearly a year. For the past six months, the weekly claims for state unemployment were below one million, but never made it lower than 711,000 set in November.

In addition, 451,402 people who are not eligible for regular government applications, such as self-employed or gig workers, have applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. This number is not adjusted seasonally.

Together, claims stood at 1.2 million for the first time last week without seasonal adjustments.

“For months, there has been no significant improvement in the scope of total initial claims,” ​​said AnnElizabeth Konkel, economist at Hiring Lab. Despite changes in the direction of claims, the total number of initial applications is still almost six times higher than in the same period last year.

The continued claims for unemployment benefits amounted to 4.4 million in the week ended 13 February, a slight decrease compared to the previous week.

In the week ended February 6, more than 19 million Americans received benefits under the various programs of the government. The number of employees receiving assistance through the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which offers additional pay weeks after workers have used up their usual government benefits, has risen by more than a million to 5.1 million.

“Hopefully the coming spring weather and continued vaccinations will be an economic boost,” Konkel said.

For states, the long-term unemployment of so many people is a growing financial burden. According to the US Treasury, about 19 states have borrowed more than $ 50 billion from the federal government to pay out benefits since Tuesday.

California borrowed $ 19.5 billion, while New York borrowed just under $ 10 billion. Texas borrowed about $ 6.5 billion.

–Tami Luhby contributed to this story.

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