The number of new workers who applied for unemployment benefits last week was nearly 1.9 million, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Economists had predicted that the claims would total 1.8 million.
Since mid-March, over 42 million workers have become jobless and claimed unemployment benefits. The number of claims has overwhelmed agencies charged with administering the benefits. While over 40 million people have submitted unemployment claims, only 27 million of them have been processed, according to an analysis by the Century Foundation.
The number of workers seeking aid remains historically high but has dropped considerably from the nearly 7 million claims that were filed the week ending on March 28. Still, losing millions of jobs a week for weeks at a time was unheard of before the pandemic.
However, initial jobless claims reported by the Labor Department shows an incomplete picture when it comes to the number of workers who lost their job last week. There are also benefits not included in the count being provided by the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, created as part of the CARES Act, enacted in March, which provides relief to unemployed workers who otherwise don’t qualify for regular benefits. Jobless workers that fit into this category can be self-employed or seeking a part-time employment.
The number of jobless workers claiming PUA relief was cut by more than half, according to the Labor Department report. Nearly 1.3 million initial claims were filed for the week ending May 23. For the week ending May 30, that figure was a little over 600,000.
States that have allowed businesses to reopen are helping to lessen the number of jobless workers claiming benefits. Of the 42 states that issued stay-at-home orders in mid-March to slow the spread of the coronavirus, 36 of them have slowly started to reopen their economies.
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The White House issued guidance last month aimed at helping states reopen their economies. White House economist Kevin Hassett said Wednesday that the government’s response to the pandemic has put the country in position for a strong recovery.
“We can turn this thing back on,” he said, adding that some indicators are pointing to a robust reopening of the economy.
“We’re not seeing a wave of bankruptcies, we’re not seeing a wave of defaults because of the [emergency small business pandemic relief] loans and all the cash that we put in people’s pockets,” he said.
Hassett also pointed to the ADP report released on Wednesday that showed 2.76 million jobs were lost in May. Forecasters had expected 9 million job losses.
“This ADP number does suggest that you’re very, very close to a turning point,” he said.
Thursday’s Labor Department report on weekly job losses precedes its monthly unemployment report that will be released Friday. Economists expect that the report will include a 19% unemployment rate for May, up from 14.7% in April, and that 8 million people lost their jobs last month — a frightful number, but not nearly as catastrophic as the 20.5 million workers who lost their jobs in April.
