Another 861,000 Americans Filed For Unemployment Last Week - Forbes

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Topline

New unemployment claims totaled 861,000 last week (on a seasonally adjusted basis), up nearly 10% from the previous week’s 793,000 claims, which were revised upward, and still much higher than historical standards as the coronavirus pandemic continues to force layoffs in industries such as retail and hospitality.

Key Facts

In the week ending February 13, another 516,299 people filed claims under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which extends benefits to self-employed workers not eligible for traditional state programs, according to the weekly data released Thursday.

About 18.3 million people were still receiving some form of government unemployment benefit in the week ending January 30—shockingly high compared to the 2.1 million total claims filed in the comparable week in 2020.

That figure is greater than the roughly 10 million Americans considered unemployed due to the startling number of people who’ve dropped out of the labor force because they’re no longer looking for work.

Economists were expecting about 773,000 new jobless claims last week, meaning the already precarious labor market recovery–which many experts predict may take years to return to prepandemic levels–could be worse than feared.

Big Number

6.3%. That was the unemployment rate in January, creeping down from about 6.7% in December. Despite the decreased unemployment rate, the number of permanent job losers increased to about 3.5 million in January, from 3.3 million in December—about three times prepandemic levels.

Surprising Fact

The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that about 20% of business travel won’t return after the pandemic–a change that will likely result in fewer jobs in industries hardest hit by the pandemic, including retail, hospitality and restaurants, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Key Background

The enhanced federal unemployment benefits authorized by the last stimulus package in December will expire on March 14, giving lawmakers less than one month to pass the next stimulus bill so that millions of Americans aren’t faced with a steep benefits cliff. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan includes enhanced federal unemployment benefits of $400 per week through September, but it’s unclear how much the entire package will need to be trimmed in order to satisfy some of the more conservative Democrats.