• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • Subscribe
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • RSS
  • RSMUS.com

The Real Economy Blog

Search

  • Economics
  • Technology
  • Consumer
  • Industrials
  • Finance
  • Real Estate
  • Health Care
  • Life Sciences
Home > Coronavirus > Jobless claims: Data going wrong way as pandemic intensifies

Jobless claims: Data going wrong way as pandemic intensifies

Nov. 19, 2020 by Joseph Brusuelas

  • email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Initial jobless claims increased by 742,000 for the week ending Nov. 14 as the pandemic intensified and lockdowns spread across the economy. Continuing claims increased to 6.37 million, while 20.3 million people remain on some form of unemployment insurance, according to Labor Department data released on Thursday.

The risk to the near-term economic outlook is rising.

Given the exhaustion of unemployment insurance that has already affected millions of Americans and the looming expiration of more federal benefits on Dec. 31, it is clear that the risk to the near-term economic outlook is rising, which points to further displacement of service-sector employees and disinflation. The data all imply that another round of fiscal aid is absolutely necessary in the near term.

For the week ending Nov. 14, there were 320,237 first-time claims for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, up from 296,374 previously. The insured unemployment rate declined to 4.35% from 4.6% last week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Oct. 31 were in California (8.3%), Hawaii (8.3%), New Mexico (8.0%), Nevada (7.6%), Georgia (6.5%), Pennsylvania (6.4%), Alaska (6.2%), Massachusetts (6.2%), District of Columbia (6.0%) and Illinois (5.7%).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Nov. 7 were in Washington (up 7,683), California (5,293), Massachusetts (3,383), Alabama (1,704) and Louisiana (1,626). The largest decreases were in Georgia (down 13,426), Illinois (6,357), Kentucky (4,830), Texas (3,934) and New Jersey (3,725).

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

  • email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Related posts

  • CHART OF THE DAY: Continuing jobless claims data point to cracks in labor market

    As we enter week 22 of pandemic-induced job losses, the increase in the duration of unemployment is becoming worrisome. The insured unemployment rate increased to 10.6% for the week ending Aug. 1, which is above the Bureau of…

  • Methodological changes to jobless claims data are behind their slower pace

    First-time jobless claims declined to a seasonally adjusted rate of 881,000 for the week ending Aug. 29, with non-seasonally adjusted claims falling to 833,000 as the Department of Labor introduced a new way to estimate the pace of…

  • Initial jobless claims fall below 1 million

    For the first time in five months, first-time jobless claims fell below one million to 963,000 for the week ending Aug. 8, while continuing claims eased to 15.5 million, Labor Department data shows.

Filed Under: Coronavirus, Economics Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, initial jobless claims, Joseph Brusuelas, unemployment

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, 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.

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.

Primary Sidebar

Other Regions

  • Canada
  • United Kingdom

Categories

  • Economics
  • Technology
  • Consumer Products
  • Industrials
  • Financial Services
  • Real Estate
  • Health Care
  • Life Sciences

Recent Economics articles

  • CHART OF THE DAY: Institutional investors warm to digital assets Jan. 25, 2021
  • U.K. financial conditions, growth and the pandemic Jan. 25, 2021
  • FOMC preview: Addressing market rise in inflation expectations Jan. 25, 2021

RSMUS.com links

The Real Economy

Middle Market Business Index

MMBI Special Reports

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS

About The Real Economy Blog

The Real Economy Blog from RSM US LLP was developed to provide timely economic insights about the middle market economy. It is offered as a complement to RSM’s macroeconomic thought leadership, including The Real Economy monthly publication and the proprietary RSM US Middle Market Business Index (MMBI).

© 2021 RSMUS.com | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy

The Real Economy Blog
  • Economics
  • Technology
  • Consumer
  • Industrials
  • Finance
  • Real Estate
  • Health Care
  • Life Sciences