Coronavirus Economy: 2.1 Million Added To Unemployment Rolls, 40 Million Since Pandemic Began

More than 2.1 million people filed initial unemployment claims last week, the 10th week of numbers in the millions as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the economy and states struggled to reopen, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Unemployment was at 3.5% in February.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said filings were 323,000 lower than the previous week’s revised level when a revised 2.4 million workers filed claims. The four-week moving average fell to 2.6 million. Since mid-March, more than 40 million Americans have filed initial claims.

“Today’s Labor Department report indicates the depths of the COVID-19 joblessness crisis,” unemployment expert Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at the Century Foundation, said in an email to IBTimes.

“What’s most disturbing is how many Americans remain unemployed more than two months into the crisis. The figures today reveal 21 million workers still claiming state benefits … and another 7.8 million claiming special federal pandemic unemployment aid -- each of these workers has certified that they remain fully or partially unemployed.

“All told, that’s 18 percent of the workforce that is currently claiming unemployment. This record level of claims translates into an unemployment rate approaching 20 percent for the month of May.” May unemployment figures are to be issued June 5.

Mark Hamrick, senior economist at Bankrate.com, said the numbers show the economy “remains in the virtual intensive care unit.”

“We’re bracing for the forthcoming May employment report widely expected to show millions more Americans lost their jobs during the month, sending the unemployment rate yet higher after April’s disastrous officially reported 14.7%,” Hamrick said in a statement emailed to IBTimes.

The federal government also is laying off employees. Some 1,824 filed initial unemployment claims for the week ending May 16, with 16,612 claiming benefits for the week that ended May 9, along with 14,289 newly discharged veterans.

Nearly 7.8 million Americans claimed Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits in 33 states for the week ending May 9.

“The major increase in payouts, in particular, demonstrates the powerful economic impact of the $600 per week increase in benefits …, which has become a lightning rod of controversy over whether increased unemployment benefit payouts might conflict with rehiring and reopening,” Stettner said.

“But the reality from coast to coast is that the job market has not made a big comeback, and that the enhanced unemployment aid is one of the most important fiscal boosts that the federal government can provide to families and the economy.”

Unemployment rates for the week ending May 9 were highest in Washington (31.2%), Nevada (26.7%), Florida (25%), Hawaii (23.4%), Michigan (23.1%), California (20.6%), New York (9.9%), Rhode Island (18.8), Vermont (18.2%), Connecticut (18%) and Georgia (18%).

The largest increases in claims were recorded in California, Washington, New York, Florida and Michigan. Claims fell the most in Georgia, New Jersey, Kentucky, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.