Are More Americans Finding Jobs? Initial Unemployment Claims Fall For 10th Week But Remain High

Initial jobless claims fell again last week to the lowest level since the coronavirus pandemic forced the shutdown of the U.S. economy and pushed some millions of Americans into unemployment lines. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday initial claims fell to 1.5 million as more states eased coronavirus restrictions, bringing to 42 million the number of claims filed since mid-March.

It was the 12th week initial unemployment claims had topped 1 million. Before the pandemic began, claims averaged 300,000.

BLS estimated unemployment for the week that ended May 30 at 14.4%, 0.2 points lower than the previous week’s revised rate.

On Friday, BLS pegged the May unemployment rate at 13.3%, down from 14.7% in April, surprising economists who had expected the rate to jump to 20%.

“Today’s unemployment report confirms two critical facts: that the unemployment crisis is slowly improving but that benefits will continue to play an essential role in the recovery for months to come. … New layoffs are slowing, too: Weekly initial claims are down by 78 percent from the peak of 6.9 million on March 28,” unemployment expert Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at the Century Foundation, said in an email to IBTimes.

He added: “When federal pandemic unemployment benefits are included, there were a total of 30.9 million claims for unemployment last week, representing 19.7 percent of the labor force. Claims data prove that the labor market’s strain on the economy is significantly greater than the 13.3 percent unemployment rate.”

The Federal Reserve Wednesday predicted unemployment would remain elevated through 2022 but would fall to 9.3% by the end of the year.

"As we look for signs that the worst of the downturn might be behind, new claims have declined for 10 straight weeks along with a drop in continuing claims,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, told IBTimes. “But the situation remains dire with the nation’s unemployment rate in the double-digits and joblessness disproportionately affecting women, blacks, Hispanics and teenagers."

More than 29.5 million Americans claimed benefits for the week that ended May 23, 662,143 fewer than the previous week. That compares to 1.5 million for the comparable week in 2019.

Unemployment was highest in Maine, Nevada, Michigan, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, followed by New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The largest increases in claims were recorded by Florida, California, Oklahoma and Mississippi, with the biggest decreases recorded by New York, Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania and Washington.

Thirty states are now paying extended benefits authorized by Congress in the CARES Act. Those benefits will expire at the end of July unless lawmakers act to extend them. More than 9.7 million people claimed Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in 42 states while 518,942 claimed Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation in 32 states for the week that ended May 23.

Nearly 2,000 federal civilian employees were added to the unemployment rolls along with 1,166 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans.