Unemployment claims fall as economy tries to crawl back

It was the third straight week claims have fallen despite virus restrictions

First-time unemployment claims in Florida declined again in a sign that the state’s economy is slowly steadying itself from a horrific economic slowdown early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

New claims sharply declined by 17,503 to 73,955 for the week ended Aug. 1, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.

It was the third straight week that claims have fallen, despite continued COVID-related business closings and operating restrictions mandated by local governments.

Nationally, the week-to-week figure for initial claims declined to 1,186,000, a decrease of 249,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,435,000.

“For the first time in three weeks, we have word of declining new claims for unemployment benefits, which is welcomed,” said Mark Hamrick, a senior analyst at Bankrate. “The drop of about onequarter million new claims to nearly 1.2 million takes them to the lowest since late March when we saw the unprecedented explosion in requests for unemployment assistance.

But Hamrick added, “Even with continuing claims falling to more than 16 million, this is hardly the time to check off the ‘mission accomplished’ box on healing the pandemic ravaged economy.”

The results mark “the 20th consecutive week of elevated new jobless claims of 1 million or more, in some cases substantially more, going back to March and continuing through June. While economic activity is expected to rebound here in the second half of the year after the historic second quarter contraction, there’s still a deficit of jobs creation so far this year of 14 million.”

As of Tuesday, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity had paid more than 1.8 million people nearly $12.9 billion since mid-March, with most of the money coming from a $600-a-week federal program that expired last month.

Democrat and Republican lawmakers in Washington were continuing efforts to negotiate an extension of federal relief for millions of unemployed. A key issue is whether to extend the $600 payments, a move advocated by the Democrats. The Republicans want to cut the figure to $200, through September and replace the sum with a system to replace up to 70% of a worker’s previous income.

The two sides are also contemplating another round of onetime $1,200 stimulus checks and relief payments of up to $6,000 per household.

President Donald Trump has said he might try to settle the unemployment insurance issue as well as an eviction moratorium through executive action, though it remains unclear if he has the authority. The White House reportedly offered to extend the federal jobless payment through December at $400 a week.

As lawmakers engaged with the Trump administration, groups representing a variety of industries hit hard by unemployment — including Florida’s seaports — peppered House and Senate offices in Washington with requests for help.