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The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the second week in a row, fueling fears that a new round of business closings amid a resurgence in coronavirus cases is stagnating, or reversing, the early market recovery. labor.
The latest figures from the Labor Department’s unemployment claims, covering the week ending July 25, show that more than 1.43 million workers sought unemployment aid last week, bringing the total number up since the shutdown began. to more than 54 million.
Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected 1.45 million new claims.
FED’S POWELL SAYS THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY MAY NEED MORE POLICY HELP TO AVOID ‘LONG’ RECESSION
It is the nineteenth week in a row that jobless claims reached more than 1 million; Before the pandemic, the record was 695,000 set in 1982. The total for the previous weeks was revised from 6,000 to 1.42 million.
Continuing claims, the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, increased by 867,000 to just over 17 million.
California represented the largest jump in claims with 61,154 new workers applying for help, followed by Virginia (up to 25,049), Nevada (14,515) and Oregon (11,013).
The resurgence of COVID-19 infections and new closure measures in several US states, including Florida and California, have raised concerns about the economic recovery that is stagnating after strong job growth in May and June.
More than 4 million cases have been confirmed in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University, the most in the world.
NEAR HALF OF THE WORK OF THE UNITED STATES LOST BY CORONAVIRUSES MAY BE PERMANENTLY, THE SURVEY FINDS
The renewed threat of another round of layoffs is emerging just as the additional $ 600 a week in unemployment benefits, part of the $ 2.2 billion CARES Act passed in March, officially expires.
Congress and the White House are currently negotiating another emergency aid package, which could include the extension, but a significant reduction, of additional unemployment aid. Republicans have proposed reducing sweetened benefits to $ 200 a week until states can adopt a more complicated system that would limit aid to 70 percent of a worker’s previous salary.
If the virus outbreak escalates, forcing companies to close again, economists have warned that the consequences could be severe.
FED UNDERSCORES SUPPORT FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY THREATENED BY VIRUS RESURGENCE
“The way forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain, and will depend greatly on our success in keeping the virus in check,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday during a virtual press conference.
It sounded a sober tone about the time it will take for the US economy to return to pre-crisis levels, warning that it anticipates additional consequences of the pandemic.
The latest unemployment claims report comes when the Commerce Department reported that the nation’s GDP, the most comprehensive measure of goods and services produced in the country, fell by a record 32.9 percent in the second quarter.
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