State jobless claims lowest in 7 months; workers ponder quitting
Unemployment claims in California fell to their lowest levels since coronavirus-linked business shutdowns began in March, federal officials said Thursday.
Workers filed 158,900 first-time unemployment claims for the week that ended Oct. 17, down about 17,200 from the 176,100 claims filed during the week ending Oct. 10, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
The number of unemployment claims was the lowest since the week of March 21, when California workers filed 186,300 jobless claims.
The current number of jobless claims represents a dramatic improvement from the week that ended March 28, when California workers filed 1.06 million first-time claims, an all-time record high for a single week.
All of these numbers are far above the 57,600 in unemployment claims that were filed in California during the week that ended March 14.
During January and February, the two months before the business shutdowns began, unemployment claims averaged 44,800 a week.
Nationwide, the number of laid- off Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 787,000, a sign that job losses may have eased slightly but are still running at historically high levels.
California has third highest jobless rate
New federal job stats show California has the nation’s third-highest unemployment rate.
September’s state- by- state employment data shows California’s 11% rate was topped only by Hawaii at 15.1% and Nevada at 12.6%. These three states all have major tourism industries that have been decimated by lockdowns and quarantine restrictions for travelers. Which state had the lowest unemployment rate? Nebraska at 3.5%, then South Dakota at 4.1% and Vermont at 4.2%.
A year ago California was further off the unemployment rankings in September when it had the 12th highest rate at 3.9%. Highest: Alaska at 6.2%. Lowest:
North Dakota, South Carolina and Vermont at 2.4%.
When comparing September 20192020, California had the fifth-largest one-year change at 282%. Tops: Hawaii at 559%, then Massachusetts at 343% and Nevada at 341%. Lowest? Alaska at 116% then Nebraska at 117% and South Dakota at 121%.
Also, California lost the most jobs in a year, 1.49 million. Next was New York at 1.1 million, and then Texas at 583,600.
Pandemic pushes thoughts of quitting
A quarter of U. S. workers say they have even considered quitting their jobs as worries related to the pandemic weigh on them, according to a new poll by The Associated PRESS-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in collaboration with the software company SAP. A fifth said they have taken leave.
About 7 in 10 workers cited juggling their jobs and other responsibilities as a source of stress. Fears of contracting the virus also was a top concern for those working outside the home.
The good news is that employers are responding. The poll finds 57% of workers saying their employer is doing “about the right amount” in responding to the pandemic; 24% say they are “going above and beyond.” Just 18% say their employer is “falling short.”
Lower-income workers were especially likely to have considered quitting — 39% of workers in households earning less than $30,000 annually versus just 23% in higher-income households.
While 65% of remote workers say their employers are doing a good job protecting their health, just 50% of those working outside the home say that.
The pandemic is weighing heavily on women and people of color, who are most likely to work in essential jobs they can’t do remotely.
Fifty percent of women call the pandemic a major source of stress in their lives, compared to 36% of men. Sixty-two percent of Black workers and 47% of Hispanic workers say it is, compared to 39% of white workers.