Unemployment claims climb; $300 extra benefits expiration looms

Unemployment claims in California rose last week and remain far above normal levels, the government reported Thursday, fresh evidence the statewide jobs recovery from coronavirus-linked ailments remains elusive.

California workers filed 67,200 initial claims for unemployment during the week that ended on Aug. 21, an increase of 2,500 claims from the 64,700 claims that were filed during the week that ended on Aug. 14, the U.S. Labor Department reported.

The claims that were filed last week represented the most filings for a single week in more than two months, topped only by the 68,000 claims that were filed during the week that ended on June 12, this news organization’s analysis of filings by the Labor Department and the state Employment Development Department shows.

Nationwide, workers filed 353,000 initial claims for unemployment last week, up 4,000 from the 349,000 jobless claims that were filed the week before, the Labor Department reported.

The jobless filings are rising with just days left before an extra benefit of $300 weekly that’s being paid by the federal government is set to expire on Sept. 4.

Many California workers may be choosing to continue to file for unemployment because their pay at a hypothetical new job — after deducting expenses such as child care costs and gasoline for commute trips — might be equivalent to their regular state unemployment benefits plus the extra $300 federal supplement. That’s one theory that some economists have advanced to explain the ongoing increase in jobless filings in California.

What is certain, however, is the current level of unemployment filings in California is far above what would be expected in a normal economy.

During January 2020 and February 2020, the final two months before government agencies ordered an array of coronavirus-linked business shutdowns, unemployment claims averaged 44,800 a week in California.

The latest weekly total of 67,200 jobless claims is a head-spinning 50% higher than the average number of unemployment filings before the lockdowns were launched in mid-march 2020.

Overall, California’s jobs recovery badly lags the nation, this news organization’s analysis of state and federal government reports shows.

California has recovered only 58.3% of the jobs that it lost during March 2020 and April 2020 when the state economy was devastated by the onset of the business shutdowns. In sharp contrast, the United States has recovered about 75% of its lost jobs.