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The number of Americans filing initial jobless claims rose for the first time in five weeks, even as the economy and labor market are quickly recovering from the crisis. Coronavirus pandemic.
The Ministry of Labor reported on Thursday that unemployment complaints rose to 353,000 from 349,000 a week earlier. The weekly number has declined more or less steadily since it surpassed 900,000 in early January, aided by the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines which has encouraged businesses to reopen and has drawn consumers out of their homes to restaurants, bars and shops. But an upsurge in cases linked to the highly contagious Delta variant has clouded the economic outlook.
“The downward trend in claims continues, despite the Covid-Delta wave, probably because the bar for laying off staff is very high, given the tight labor market,” said Ian Shepherson, chief economist from Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a research note. . “Companies cannot be sure that they will be able to rehire the laid-off people now.”
The labor market has rebounded vigorously since the pandemic crippled economic activity last year and employers cut more than 22 million jobs in March and April 2020. The United States has since recovered 16, 7 million jobs, and employers have added a growing number of jobs for three consecutive months, including one robust 943,000 in July. Jobs have been posted – a record 10.1 million in June – faster than candidates line up to fill them out.
Some employers attribute their labor shortages to additional unemployment benefits from the federal government – including $ 300 a week in addition to regular state aid – for discouraging some unemployed people from looking for work. In response, many states have withdrawn from federal programs, which expire throughout the country next month.
Economists point to other factors that have kept workers out of the job market – including difficulty finding or paying for child care, fear of getting infected with the virus, and hope among some workers to find better jobs than before the pandemic.
The economy remains at 5.7 million fewer jobs than in February 2020.
Some 12 million Americans were receiving unemployment assistance as of the first week of August, the most recent data available.
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