CA unemployment claims rocket higher

California jobless claims soar to highest weekly level in six months

California workers filed the most initial claims for unemployment benefits in six months, a huge weekly total revealed on Thursday that suggests coronavirus-linked woes still afflict the statewide economy.

Workers statewide filed 80,700 first-time unemployment claims during the week that ended on Oct. 16, which was up 17,600 from the 63,100 initial claims that workers filed during the week ending on Oct. 9, the U.S. Labor Department reported.

The claims that were filed with the state Employment Development Department last week were the most that workers have posted since early April, this news organization’s analysis of government reports shows.

Nationwide, workers filed 290,000 initial claims for unemployment last week, a decrease of 6,000 from the 296,000 that were filed the prior week. These numbers reported by the Labor Department were adjusted for seasonal variations.

In California, the jump of 17,600 unemployment claims marked the largest one-week increase since the seven-day period that ended on April 3.

Jobless claims statewide have been stuck at an abnormally high level compared to what had been the case for a healthy California economy prior to the onset of the coronavirus.

During January 2020 and February 2020, the final two months before the start of government-orchestrated business shutdowns to combat the spread of the deadly bug, unemployment claims averaged 44,800 a week in California.

That means the most recent total of 80,700 initial jobless claims was 80% higher than the weekly totals for early 2020, a jawdropping difference.

In another disturbing metric that points to ongoing weakness in the California economy, the state now accounts for nearly one out of every three unemployment claims filed nationwide, using comparable numbers that aren’t adjusted for seasonal volatility.

The persistent ailments for California’s job market have now become a mystery for economists.

The vast majority of analysts who have tracked the statewide and Bay Area job markets and the regional economies in California had steadfastly predicted that unemployment claims would begin to markedly dwindle starting in September.

“The explanations previously given for California lagging behind the national economy are no longer convincing,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris and a former EDD director. “California’s COVID rates are below other states, schools have reopened and childcare is coming back.”

Instead of declining to pre-COVID levels, California unemployment claims have drifted higher. Even worse, the filings also have reached troubling new peaks that suggest it could take some time for California’s wobbly job market to steady itself.

Plus, California now accounts for a brutally high 31.5% of all the claims filed in the United States, when using comparable numbers that weren’t seasonally adjusted — even though the state has only 11.7% of the nationwide workforce.

“The small business economy in California remains decimated, limiting job openings,” Bernick said. “However, employers who do have job openings, particularly for retail and hospitality jobs, report few applicants.”