Another 2.4 million people applied for unemployment for the first time last week, bringing the total number of out-of-work Americans to more than 38 million — a number “greater than the combined population of 21 states,” according to Forbes.
Initial jobless claims also topped 2 million for the ninth week in a row, demonstrating the intense economic impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on Americans’ financial health. There is good news, though: although millions are still filing new unemployment claims, the overall number of new unemployment claims has actually declined since a peak in the last week March, when an estimated 7 million people filed for unemployment for the first time.
That seems to demonstrate that, while Americans are hurting from coronavirus-related lockdowns, the country has already experienced a job loss “peak,” and things are likely to improve in the coming weeks, as states begin loosening their “stay-at-home” orders.
One dark spot in Thursday’s jobs numbers, though, are the initial claims for Federal assistance. May 1st marked the first day many Americans who do not have full time jobs, but instead rely on “gig” or freelance work, could apply for unemployment benefits through a Federal government assistance program, and ” almost 1 million” people took advantage of the relief, according to WSJ’s Marketwatch.
“In addition to regular unemployment insurance, more than 2.2 million people in 35 states filed initial claims for the pandemic unemployment assistance program last week. That’s up from nearly 1.9 million people who filed first-time pandemic claims in the two weeks ending May 9,” CNN reported Thursday. “Congress created the program to provide benefits to independent contractors, the self employed, gig workers and certain people affected by the coronavirus.”
Unemployment also remains historically high. Currently, the United States is suffering through its worst job loss since the end of World War II, when factories that had been employing millions to aid in the war effort returned to manufacturing goods, laying off most of their workforce.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current jobless rate sits somewhere around 14.7%, the highest since the BLS began compiling statistics, in 1948.
Individual states are also struggling. Where some states have returned to more normal operations — allowing restaurants, retailers, and service providers to reopen, albeit with strict social distancing and other anti-virus restrictions — others have maintained strict lockdowns, leaving some residents at a disadvantage. While Georgia, Texas, and Florida appear to be recovering, economically, Michigan is still suffering through an estimated 22% unemployment rate, per the Detroit News.
In Illinois, where strict lockdowns also persist, there is concern, the Tax Foundation says, that so many people are out of work that the state’s unemployment fund may actually run out of money before businesses have a chance to recover.
Economists are hopeful that third quarter numbers will be better, barring a second wave of COVID-19 infections and any subsequent return to lockdown measures.
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