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Initial jobless claims arrive above expectations

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While the August U.S. employment report likely provided little impetus inside Washington to arrive at a compromise on another round of fiscal aid, the initial jobless claims report for the week ending Sept. 5 provided a stark contrast on domestic employment dynamics.

With federal protections for the employed expiring on Sept. 30, the clock is ticking on another round of painful labor data heading into October.

With permanent job losses increasing and federal protections for the employed linked to the CARES Act expiring on Sept. 30, the clock is ticking on another round of painful labor data heading into October.

First-time initial jobless claims increased by 884,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, higher than the 850,000 anticipated, and by 857,000 on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

Including first-time claims for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which jumped to 837,916 from 747,993, total claims arrived at 1.722 million for the week.

Continuing claims for the week ending Aug. 29 increased to 13.3 million, which implies an insured unemployment rate of 9.2% on a seasonally adjusted rate and 9% on a non-seasonally adjusted rate.

Through the week ending Aug. 22, there were 29.6 million people on some form of unemployment insurance. Since the onset of the pandemic in March, there have been 60.4 million individual new claims for unemployment insurance.

For more information on how the coronavirus is affecting midsize businesses, please visit the RSM Coronavirus Resource Center.

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About Joseph Brusuelas

@JoeBrusuelas

Joe Brusuelas, “chief economist to the middle market,” is the preeminent voice championing issues and policies facing midsize companies in the United States and around the world. An award-winning economist, Brusuelas has more than 20 years’ experience analyzing U.S. monetary policy, labor markets, fiscal policy, international finance, economic indicators and the condition of the U.S. consumer.

A member of the Wall Street Journal’s forecasting panel and the UCLA Anderson School of Management's Board of Directors, Brusuelas regularly briefs members of Congress and other senior officials regarding the impacts of federal policy on the middle market and the factors by which middle market executives make business decisions. He also frequently offers his insights on the U.S., Canadian and global economies in the financial media. In 2020, he was named one of the 100 most influential economists by Richtopia. In December 2023, Brusuelas and the economics team were recognized on Bloomberg's list of Best Bond Forecasters after correctly predicting where the benchmark Treasury would end the year.

Before joining RSM in 2014, Brusuelas spent four years as a senior economist at Bloomberg L.P. and the Bloomberg Briefs newsletter group, where he co-founded the award-winning Bloomberg Economic Brief. Earlier in his career, he was a director at Moody's Analytics covering the U.S. and global economies for the Dismal Scientist website. He also served as chief economist at Merk Investments L.L.C. and chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal.

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