Number seeking jobless benefits stays unchanged

Improvement in job market showing signs of weakening

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week at 884,000, a sign that layoffs remain stuck at a historically high level six months after the viral pandemic flattened the economy.

The latest figures released by the Labor Department on Thursday coincide with other recent evidence that the job market’s improvement may be weakening after solid gains through spring and most of summer. The number of people seeking jobless aid each week still far exceeds the number who did so in any week on record before this year.

Hiring has slowed since June, and a rising number of laid-off workers now say they regard their job loss as permanent. The number of people who are continuing to receive state unemployment benefits rose last week, after five weeks of declines, to 13.4 million, evidence that employers aren’t hiring enough to offset layoffs. Job postings have leveled off in the past month, according to the employment website Indeed.

“The claims data were disappointing,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. “It is especially concerning that the pace of layoffs has not slowed more materially even though the economy has reopened more fully and more and more businesses have come back online.”

Hiring will likely remain restrained as long as Americans are unable or reluctant to resume their normal habits of shopping, traveling, dining out and engaging in other commerce. The rate of reported infections has dropped over the past several weeks but remains well above where it was during the spring. Most analysts say the economy won’t likely be able to sustain a recovery until a vaccine is widely available.

Economists say the recovery is being imperiled by Congress’ failure to agree to another emergency rescue package. The expiration of the $600-a-week federal jobless benefit has deepened the difficulties for America’s unemployed.

The Trump administration is providing a stripped-down version of that benefit — $300 a week. Yet because of a patchwork array of varying rules, some of the unemployed don’t qualify for it, notably people whose state benefits are less than $100 a week.

The $300-a-week aid program is so far operational in just 12 states, including Arizona, California, Florida and Texas. And some large states, like Illinois, Michigan and New York, haven’t yet started paying the money.

In addition to the laid-off people who applied last week for state benefits, roughly 840,000 others sought jobless aid under a federal program that has made self-employed and gig workers eligible for the first time. That figure isn’t adjusted for seasonal trends, so it’s reported separately.

All told, the Labor Department said 29.6 million people are receiving some form of unemployment benefits from the federal government or states, though that figure might be inflated by double-counting by some states.