Jobless claims surging in Texas
First-time claims for unemployment benefits in Texas jumped to their highest level since the summer as the economic recovery seeks traction.
Weekly claims surged to more than 70,000 in Texas last month, up more than 20,000 from about 49,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was the most claims filed in Texas since the end of July.
Nationally, first-time claims for jobless benefits rose by 45,000 to 770,000 last week, the Labor Department said.
Last week was the 52nd straight with elevated unemployment filings. First-time claims for jobless benefits are far below their peaks last spring, when shutdown orders closed businesses, but three or more times their pre-pandemic level.
Progress toward getting more people back to work has stalled. Initial weekly claims under regular and emergency programs for gig workers and the self-employed, combined, have been stuck at just above 1 million since last fall.
“It goes up a little bit, it goes down, but really we haven’t seen much progress,” said Ann-Elizabeth Konkel, an economist for the career site Indeed. “A year into this, I’m starting to wonder, what is it going to take to fix the magnitude problem? How is this going to actually end?”
The increases in claims show that the recovery remains tentative even as vaccinations begin to bring the coronavirus pandemic
under control and money from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus package begins to make its way into the economy. More than $242 billion in stimulus payments to individuals landed in bank accounts Wednesday, according to the Treasury Department.
Enhanced unemployment benefits approved in the package have gone out to most of those eligible in Texas, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
Economists expect a strong recovery once widespread vaccinations bring the pandemic to an end and release pent up demand. In addition to the massive federal stimulus spending, the Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it intended to hold short-term interest rates near zero until 2023, providing more support for the recovery.