Jobless claims in Colorado up 20%; national number at 742K
Regular unemployment claims in Colorado are running at their highest level in four months as tighter restrictions to fight COVID- 19 squeeze economic activity around the state.
The number of claims that displaced workers filed under the state’s regular unemployment insurance program shot up to 9,171 on the week of Nov. 14, a 22% increase from the 7,483 claims filed the week of Nov. 7, according to an update Thursday from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
That’s the highest total in Colorado since 10,506 regular claims were filed the week of July 11. Nationally, regular initial claims rose by 31,000 to 742,000 last week. But they remain below October levels, unlike Colorado.
The top industries for Colorado workers making regular claims last week were accommodations and food services, with 16.9% of the total, followed by construction at 13.7%, administrative and support service, 10.1%, health care and social assistance at 8.8% and retail trade at 8.5%.
Normally, the state reports initial claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program alongside regular claims but withheld the information so it could sort out what might be a surge in fraudulent claims in the program created this year to help independent workers.
“PUA initial claims for the week ending November 14th are not currently available, as CDLE continues to analyze PUA claim characteristics that may be contributing to the increase observed in recent weeks,” the department said in its release. “Nationally, the PUA program has been inundated with fraud since its inception under the CARES Act.”
For the week of Nov. 7, the department reported 7,281 initial PUA claims, which it revised down this week to 6,121. But even after revision, the claims rose a suspicious 69% in just one week.
“After a strong recovery after the steep downturn of March and April, the economy faces heightened risk as we wait for delivery of reportedly effective vaccines providing us reason for real hope,” said Bankrate. com senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick in comments on the national unemployment numbers.
A combined total of 224,076 continued claims were active in Colorado the week of Nov. 7, including 86,142 regular claims, 78,759 PUA claims and 59,175 claims under Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which assists workers who need an extension of benefits.
Nationally, the worsening pandemic and the arrival of cold weather could accelerate layoffs in the weeks ahead. Of the approximately 20 million Americans now receiving some form of unemployment benefits, about half will lose those benefits when two federal programs expire at the end of the year.
“The risk of further job and income loss is high now from business operations being curtailed,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U. S. economist at High Frequency Economics, a forecasting firm. “Also, expiration of federal benefits later this year will put renewed strain on household incomes. Overall, the labor market remains under stress.”
The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that applications for jobless aid rose from 711,000 in the previous week. In March, when the pandemic first intensified, the number had soared to 6.9 million. Before then, applications typically hovered about 225,000 a week.
The surge in confirmed viral infections, and worry about its effect on the economy, are putting pressure on financial markets.
The economy’s modest recovery is increasingly at risk, with newly confirmed daily infections in the United States having exploded 80% over the past two weeks to the highest levels on record. More states and cities are issuing mask mandates, limiting the size of gatherings, restricting restaurant dining, closing gyms or reducing the hours and capacity of bars, stores and other businesses. At least 15 states have tightened curbs on businesses to try to slow infections.
Evidence is emerging that consumers are losing confidence in the economic outlook and pulling back on shopping, eating out and other activities. Spending on 30 million credit and debit cards tracked by JPMorgan Chase fell 7.4% this month compared with a year ago. That marked a sharp drop from two weeks earlier. Consumer sentiment also declined in early November and is down nearly 21% from a year ago, according to a University of Michigan survey.
And retail sales rose just 0.3% in October, the smallest gain since stores reopened in April after a nationwide shutdown in March. The weak gain suggests that consumers began pulling back on spending even before many new restrictions on businesses were imposed.