Nearly four months after the Covid-19 pandemic devastated Americans’ health, their economy, and their job market, the improvement in economic data is slowing.
Excluding seasonal adjustments, the number of initial claims is slightly less than the adjusted number, but is still rounded to 1.4 million. During normal times, seasonal adjustments help smooth the data, but during the pandemic it was less helpful.
In addition to regular applications for unemployment benefits, nearly 1 million people in 49 states applied for pandemic unemployment assistance, a program that Congress launched as part of the government’s Covid response. Provides benefits to workers who are generally not eligible, such as self-employed and self-employed. The program will expire at the end of the year.
The resurgence of infections and the rollback of reopening plans in several states make it difficult for people to re-enter the workforce after the pandemic closes.
This is a developing story. Will be updated
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