Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
US Jobless Claims Near Pandemic Low as Economy Strengthens
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
August 12, 2021

Share

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell for a third straight time last week, the latest sign that employers are laying off fewer people as they struggle to fill a record number of open jobs and meet a surge in consumer demand.

Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell to 375,000 from 387,000 the previous week. The number of applications has fallen steadily since topping 900,000 in early January as the economy has increasingly reopened in the aftermath of the pandemic recession.

Unemployment Figures Inflated by Fraud and Misfilings

Filings for unemployment benefits have traditionally been seen as a real-time gauge of the job market’s health, but the measure’s reliability has deteriorated during the pandemic. In many states, the weekly figures have been inflated by fraud and by multiple filings from unemployed Americans as they navigate bureaucratic hurdles to try to obtain benefits.

Those complications help explain why the pace of applications remains comparatively high. Before the pandemic paralyzed the economy in March 2020, unemployment applications were running at about 220,000 a week.

Many states, for example, require self-employed and gig workers to first seek conventional unemployment benefits — and be turned down — before they can apply through a program that was set up last year to provide jobless aid to them for the first time. That program, and a $300-a-week federal supplemental unemployment benefit, will expire nationwide in the first week of September. About 22 states, mostly led by Republican governors, have already canceled both programs.

A total of about 12 million people are receiving unemployment benefits, down sharply from the previous week’s figure of nearly 13 million. That drop reflects that more Americans are being hired and no longer receiving benefits. Another factor is the cancellation in many states of the federal program for the self-employed and a separate program for the long-term jobless.

For now, nearly 8.7 million people continue to receive aid through those programs and will lose their benefits when those programs expire nationwide on Sept. 6.

Employers Added Nearly 1 Million Jobs in July

So far at least, there has been little sign that the delta variant has depressed hiring or prompted layoffs. In July, employers added a substantial 943,000 jobs, the government said last week, and the unemployment rate sank from 5.9% to 5.4%. Average hourly earnings jumped a sharp 4% in July from a year earlier, indicating that employers have felt compelled to raise pay. Still, that report was based on a survey that was conducted in mid-July, before a surge in COVID-19 delta cases took off.

On Monday, the government reported that employers posted more than 10 million available jobs in June, the most on records dating back to December 2000. That meant there were more open jobs than there were unemployed people that month. Yet those figures, too, predate the recent spike in COVID cases.

But credit card spending on airline tickets has fallen 20% from a mid-July peak, according to economists at JPMorgan Chase, suggesting that in response to the increase in infections, consumers may be starting to slow their travel spending, which had jumped in recent months.

And after returning to pre-pandemic levels for much of June and July, restaurant traffic dropped about 10% below that level in the past week, according to restaurant software provider OpenTable.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports

US Judge Blocks Trump From Nixing Union Bargaining for TSA Officers

1 hour ago

Madera County’s Rolling Hills Area Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Advisories

2 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Locating Missing At-Risk Man

The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing at-risk adult last seen early Monday morning ...

53 minutes ago

The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is searching for Alexander Lopez, 25, an at-risk man last seen Monday morning in Oakhurst. (Madera County SO)
53 minutes ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Locating Missing At-Risk Man

Actor Margot Robbie is photographed during a photocall for the upcoming Warner Bros. film "Barbie" in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 25, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
58 minutes ago

Mattel Is Combining Film and Television Units to Create Mattel Studios

Campbell's Logo
1 hour ago

Campbell’s Co. Says Sales Rise as More Americans Cook at Home

President Donald Trump gestures, as he departs for Pennsylvania, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo
1 hour ago

US Judge Blocks Trump From Nixing Union Bargaining for TSA Officers

A wildfire near State Route 41 and Avenue 11 in Madera County’s Rolling Hills area has prompted evacuation advisories and warnings for residents to prepare to leave if conditions worsen. (Madera County SO/UC San Diego)
2 hours ago

Madera County’s Rolling Hills Area Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Advisories

3 hours ago

Judge Rules Next Fresno County Sheriff, DA Elections Are in 2028

NY's Judge and Rice Celebrate
3 hours ago

Yarbrough Shines as Yankees Avoid Sweep With Win Over Dodgers

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen in the night sky over the Tallinn bay of the Baltic sea in Tallinn, Estonia, April 2, 2025. (AP File)
3 hours ago

Northern Lights Could Be Visible Again in Some US States After Weekend Solar Storms

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend