New state jobless claims tumble, but rise nationally

New Michigan jobless claims tumbled last week to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic 15 months ago in a sign that more people are returning to work or possibly reaching the end of state and federal unemployment assistance.

The 6,930 new Michigan claims filed for the week ending June 12 is only slightly higher than the 5,338 new claims filed before the pandemic shut down most of the state’s economy in March 2020, according to numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department, and far fewer than the revised 12,802 claims filed the previous week.

Nationally, however, new jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 37,000 to 412,000, ending a six-week run of steady declines.

For jobless claims to rise slightly “should not be cause for concern yet,’’ said Annelizabeth Konkel, economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab.

“The big picture is that while we are not back to a ‘normal’ level yet of initial claims, they are no longer astronomically high.’’

Many economists expect hiring to catch up with demand in the coming months, especially as federal unemployment aid programs end and more people pursue jobs. They note that the economy still has 7.6 million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic struck.

And employers are posting job openings faster than applicants can fill them. In April, they advertised a record 9.3 million job openings, up a sharp 12% from the number in March.

In Michigan, continuing jobless claims also declined from 115,952 to 105,663, still above prepandemic levels but also the lowest in 15 months.

Michigan’s requirements that the unemployed report job-seeking activity to collect benefits was suspended during the pandemic, but reinstated May 30. The details of work search activity were required to be reported beginning June 5 in order to certify unemployment status and collect benefits.

Michigan has paid out $35.9 billion in state and federal jobless benefits to 3.34 million claimants since the start of the pandemic.