One million people filed for unemployment benefits in the U.S. last week because the coronavirus pandemic remained a historic toll on the job market.
It was the second week in a row that claims passed the million mark after they dipped briefly below that figure in early August.
New applications for unemployment have remained stubbornly high for months, even as the number of cases of coronavirus decreases. At around 1m claims per week, they are five times as high as the average 200,000 weekly claims for the pandemic.
In the week ending August 22, just over 1 million claims were filed, 98,000 less than the previous week.
While the US has been getting jobs for the last three months, millions more are still out of work and the continuing economic impact of the pandemic is spreading. Initially, job losses fell most heavily in the service, leisure and hospitality sectors when restaurants, bars and hotels closed.
The impact of the recession is now expanding. This week, American Airlines announced to cut 19,000 jobs on October 1, and Delta said it has more than 1,900 pilots unless it can reach a cost-saving deal with unions. United Airlines announced earlier this summer that it could cut 36,000 positions later this year.
“Although we are seeing a significant decline in new Covid-19 cases, the trends in economic indicators have not changed significantly. “There are still signs that the recovery is slowing down at its best and, at worst, reversing,” BofA Global Research said in a note from investors. “We probably need to reduce daily Covid-19 cases much more significantly to significantly accelerate gains in economic activity.”
.
