California EDD claims leap above 100,000

Filings remain high despite efforts to reopen businesses

Unemployment claims in California jumped past 100,000 last week, an indicator that the state’s feeble job market faces an arduous path to recovery from its coronavirus-linked economic ailments, a government release on Thursday showed.

California workers filed 105,600 jobless claims for the week that ended on March 27, up 9,600 from the prior week, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Thursday.

Since business shutdowns began in March 2020, California unemployment claims have been above 100,000 for 50 of the last 54 weeks.

“The state continues to see a high number of layoffs, even a year after the pandemic started,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris, and a former director of the state Employment Development Department.

The current level of jobless filings in California is far above the level before government-ordered business shutdowns to battle the coronavirus began in mid-March of 2020, more than a year ago.

During January and February of 2020, before the lockdowns were launched, initial unemployment claims averaged 44,800 a week.

But during the 54 weeks of government-ordered business restrictions and closures, jobless claims have averaged 231,600 a week in California.

Nationwide, initial unemployment claims totaled 719,000 during the week that ended on March 27. That was up 61,000 from the prior week.

The state continues to endure a high share of the unemployment claims filed nationwide, this news organization’s analysis of the figures shows.

California’s unemployment claims last week accounted for 14.8% of all the claims filed in the United States — even though the state has only 11.8% of the nation’s labor force.

Even worse, California’s share of the nationwide jobless claims has been climbing steadily for the last three weeks. These numbers weren’t seasonally adjusted.

The latest spike in jobless claims is especially disconcerting because the increase arrives less than a week after the state Employment Development Department reported big job gains in

February for both the Bay Area and California.

During February, the Bay Area added 16,700 jobs, which ended two months of job losses in December and January, the EDD reported last week.

Santa Clara County gained 7,400 jobs, nearly half of the jobs added in the Bay Area in February, the report showed.

This suggests that even though some industries might be hiring, numerous employers are still chopping jobs.

“Employers continue to make decisions to reduce payroll sand even close permanently, even as the main narrative is recovery,” Bernick said.

Bernick also noted that the $2 trillion infrastructure plan signed into law by President Joe Biden recently won’t provide any help for the struggling California economy any time soon.

“The plan is long-term, meant to proceed over the next decade,” Bernick said. “There should not be an expectation that it will have an immediate impact on hiring in California or significant hiring in 2021.”