COVID economy: State unemployment claims jump, layoffs persist
Weekly jobless claims statewide soar to three-month high
California workers filed a big increase in initial claims for unemployment last week, an unsettling report that suggests coronavirus-linked woes continue to afflict the ailing statewide economy.
Workers statewide filed about 67,500 first-time jobless claims during the week that ended on Jan. 15, an increase of about 6,100 from the approximately 61,400 claims they filed the week ending on Jan. 8, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday, using estimates from the state Employment Development Department.
The increase marked three consecutive weeks that initial unemployment claims have risen in California. The statewide jobless claims figures weren’t adjusted for seasonal volatility.
Last week’s unemployment totals are the highest in three months. During the week that ended on Oct. 16, California workers filed 72,900 initial claims for jobless benefits.
The latest report for California unemployment claims offers fresh evidence that California’s economy has yet to recuperate from the side effects of government-ordered business shutdowns and mandates that began nearly two years ago to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Nationwide, unemployment claims totaled 286,000 last week, an increase of 55,000 from the claims that were filed the week before in the United States. These nationwide numbers were adjusted for seasonal volatility.
The jobless claims statewide at present are is far higher than what would be typical in a healthy economy in California.
During January 2020 and February 2020 — the final two months before the launch of business shutdowns that the government crafted to curb the effects of the deadly bug — jobless claims in California averaged 44,800 a week.
Last week’s total of 67,500 claims was 51% higher than the average for those two months in early 2020.