People wait to speak to representatives of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission about … [+]
As congressional lawmakers work to craft the next federal stimulus bill, a resurgence of coronavirus cases in the United States seems increasingly likely to derail a nascent economic rebound. “At this stage, you are seeing all the wrong elements for the recovery,” Gregory Daco, chief economist at Oxford Economics, told the New York Times.
With millions of cash-strapped Americans waiting for help, here are eight numbers that summarize the job market right now.
30 million
That’s the number of people currently receiving government unemployment benefits, about 20% of American workers.
$ 600
That’s the weekly federal unemployment supplement due next week. Lawmakers in Washington have not yet agreed on how to extend it, or whether to extend it at all. Democrats insist that increased benefits extend until at least the end of the year, but Republicans disagree, arguing that the supplement discourages Americans from returning to work because some people have taken more money home from unemployment. than they would have in their regular jobs
1.4 million
That’s the number of people who applied for temporary unemployment benefits last week. The data rose slightly during the previous two weeks, when claims registered approximately 1.3 million. Many took that as a sign that a further surge in coronavirus cases, and the accompanying business closings and closings, is hurting the recovery in the labor market.
975,000
That’s the number of people who filed claims to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, a temporary facility set up by the federal government to provide help to self-employed and self-employed workers, and others who are not eligible for traditional unemployment benefits, the week pass.
6.9 million
That’s the largest number of weekly claims ever recorded, since the end of March during the first days of the pandemic’s spread in the United States. The previous record was 695,000 claims for a week in 1982.
4.1 million
This is how many Americans lost their jobs between the first and second week of July, according to data from the United States Census Bureau, just as new closings began to take effect in Texas, California and Florida.
47%
That’s the share of Americans in households who have experienced pandemic-related job losses and believe those jobs are unlikely to return, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center. It’s a major shift in optimism since April, when 78% of people believed jobs would return.
11.1%
That was the unemployment rate in June, slightly lower than the stunning 14.7% rate the United States saw in April, but still astronomically higher than the record 3.5% unemployment rate in February. Another fall in the labor market and a stagnant recovery means that some experts expect that number to rise again in July. That’s not to mention the worsening public health situation: Moody’s
