MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-05-15 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] 10% of the total population now on unemployment
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/unemployment-benefits-weekly-jobless-claims-coronavirus-05-14-2020-11589410374?mod=hp_lead_pos1
wsj.com
Nearly Three Million Sought Jobless Benefits Last Week
Sarah Chaney and Gwynn Guilford
7-9 minutes
An additional three million workers applied for unemployment benefits
last week, continuing a two-month trend of historically high claims as
the coronavirus pandemic rippled through the U.S. economy.
About 36.5 million Americans have filed applications in the past eight
weeks, with weekly totals remaining at or above three million a week.
Still, unemployment filings have declined since an initial surge in
layoffs drove claims up to a weekly peak of nearly 7 million at the end
of March. In 43 states, unemployment applications fell last week.
“The numbers are very high, but they’re stepping down every week, and I
see no reason why that decline in filings wouldn’t continue,” said Keith
Hall, chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers under former
President George W. Bush. “Employers are likely poised to bring people
back, but right now we’re in a holding pattern.”
Stocks finished higher as investors digested the claims, U.S. and China
tension and efforts to reopen local economies.
States including Utah, Texas and Indiana have lifted some business
restrictions enacted earlier in the crisis to slow the spread of
coronavirus. Governors are seeking to increase testing capacity and
build contact-tracing teams as they move toward easing their lockdowns.
New claims in Georgia and Florida—which have begun lifting business
restrictions in recent weeks—increased last week compared from the
previous week. However, in several other states that have begun
reopening, the number of people filing for benefits has continued to
fall. For instance, initial claims in Oklahoma fell 65% from the
previous week, and were down 42% in Texas.
Last week’s jobless-claims figure is an undercount of the number of
workers seeking benefits. Many states are receiving applications under a
provision in a federal stimulus law that allows workers to apply who
were largely ineligible for benefits before the pandemic, including
independent contractors and self-employed people. More than 1.8 million
individuals had filed such claims in the past two weeks, according to
the Labor Department. Because those claims aren’t seasonally adjusted,
they are excluded from the main claims figures.
Meanwhile, the ranks of workers drawing on unemployment insurance
continues to remain high as states process applications. In the week
that ended May 2, 22.8 million Americans received unemployment payments,
up slightly from a revised 22.4 million the week before.
Jilma Guevara is one person who has drawn on such benefits after losing
work because of the pandemic.
Until March, Ms. Guevara conducted cargo security at Miami International
Airport, ensuring that nothing illegal or dangerous was loaded onto
flights operated by American Airlines Group Inc. On March 23, 10 minutes
before her shift ended, she was laid off by her employer, Eulen America.
The next day, Ms. Guevara, who earned around $17 an hour, said she spent
12˝ hours online trying to apply for unemployment benefits before her
application finally went through.
After a month, the unemployment checks started to arrive at the end of
April, putting Ms. Guevara, age 58, on firmer footing. But she sees few
possibilities for a new job, either right now or when the extra $600 a
week of federal unemployment benefits expires at the end of July.
“I think I can’t go anywhere because everything is the same everywhere,”
she said.
The Labor Department’s survey taken in April shows record job losses for
the U.S. WSJ explains the context behind the historic numbers Photo:
Justin Lane/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
The U.S. Treasury sent out more than $48 billion in unemployment
payments in April, greater than three times the amount paid at the
monthly peak of the 2007-09 recession, according to a Brookings
Institution analysis. The April unemployment payments helped offset more
than half of the wages and salaries that were lost during the month,
Brookings researchers estimated.
State labor departments have been reallocating staff from other
departments to process jobless claims and answer phone calls during the
economic crisis. Some have turned to tech giants including Amazon.com
Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google for new technology to handle the
historic number of claims. Such efforts helped Kansas to field more
calls than earlier in the crisis, and Rhode Island to begin rolling out
a federal unemployment program faster than other states.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
What measures you like to see in the next coronavirus stimulus bill
Congress passes? Join the conversation in the comment section below.
Have you been temporarily let go or furloughed from work? Tell us your
story in the form at the end of this article.
In the week ended April 25, about 3.4 million individuals in the U.S.
were collecting unemployment claims through this federal stimulus
program that allows independent contractors and self-employed to apply
for benefits. Michigan accounted for a large portion of these claims,
according to Thursday’s Labor Department report.
Many Americans, such as Sheryl Gillard of Charleston, S.C., are still
waiting to receive their unemployment benefits. Ms. Gillard, 62, lost
her customer-service position at a college bookstore in mid-March when
Trident Technical College in Charleston shut down.
She said she has yet to receive her first payment after submitting her
application for unemployment benefits near the end of March. She has
started searching for a new job and is open to working in the medical field.
STAY INFORMED
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newsletter once the crisis abates: Sign up here.
“Meanwhile, where are these benefits we were supposed to be getting?”
she said. “I’m just furious, honestly.”
Ms. Gillard said she is thankful for members of her church who have been
giving her money while she is jobless and waiting for unemployment
payments, which she hopes to receive before her next car payment comes due.
A spokeswoman for South Carolina’s labor department said that it has
received more than 453,000 claims in the past seven weeks and that most
have been processed within three weeks.
—Lauren Weber contributed to this article.
Write to Sarah Chaney at sarah.chaney-at-wsj.com and Gwynn Guilford at
gwynn.guilford-at-wsj.com
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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