Unemployment claims surge across country
First-time unemployment claims jumped for the second consecutive week in Texas and skyrocketed nationally as the surging pandemic takes its toll on the economy.
In Texas, first-time claims rose by about 14,000 after climbing by more than 12,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Claims here have nearly doubled over the past two weeks.
Nationally, first time claims for benefits increased by 181,000 to 965,000, the Labor Department said, one of the largest upticks since August.
The surge in jobless claims likely is a combination of seasonal layoffs after the holiday season and a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, said Ray Perryman, CEO of the Perryman Group, an economic consulting firm in Waco.
Economists have warned the recovery remains at risk until the pandemic is brought un
der control.
Nationally, payroll employment fell in December the first time in eight months as employers cut nearly 140,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported.
“It is always dangerous to read too much into a single weekly value in a volatile series,” Perryman said. “But these numbers combined with the December employment numbers are concerning.”
Rising COVID-19 cases also appear to be weighing on the Texas labor market.
In November, the most recent month for which state statistics are available, job growth fell by nearly half, to 61,000 from 115,000 in October. The unemployment rate jumped more than a point to 8.1 percent from 6.9 percent.
The state reports December employment and unemployment statistics in a week.
It’s likely that employers in the food service industry, and other in-person services are cutting staff as cases rise and new restrictions are put in place, said Patrick Jankowski, an economist at the Greater Houston Partnership, a business-finance economic development group.
In San Antonio, for example, restaurant occupancy was scaled back to 50 percent, from 75 percent and bars that have not reclassified as restaurants were closed.
It’s difficult to tell if the recent spike was a “blip,” he said, or the start of a trend
“I expect we’ll see an uptick of claims in the next few weeks,” Jankowski said, “And then we’ll see them go back down whenever we get the virus under control.”