In the latest week of unemployment benefits, the number of people claiming benefits plunged to the down level more than five decades. A sign that the U.S. job market is recovering rapidly from last year’s recession caused by Coronavirus.
There were 199,000 jobless claims in November, the lowest level since mid-November 1969. The bigger-than-expected drop is mostly the result of seasonal adjustments around Thanksgiving. According to the most recent claim count, the unadjusted claims grew by almost 18,000 to nearly 259,000.
Moreover, the four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, dropped by 21,000. It is the lowest figure since mid-March 2020 when the pandemic hit hard.
Applications have steadily declined from 900,000 in early January to, and now below, 220,000 applications per week before the outbreak. Layoffs are typically associated with claims for jobless assistance.
Approximately 2 million Americans collected traditional unemployment checks this past week, a slight decrease from previous weeks.
In its research note, Contingent Macro Advisors notes that headline figures are likely to remain volatile, but the trend remains slowly downward.
Governments have been paying gig workers $300 more a week and extending unemployment benefits to gig workers, but on September 6th this will change. Jobless aid reached a peak of over 33 million in June 2020 when the program was first implemented by former president Joe Biden’s administration as part two his plan for jobs revival that included doubling funding into state programs like UI (Unemployment Insurance).
The job market has staged an impressive comeback since the spring of 2020. When a virus known as the coronavirus killed millions of people. This led businesses to cut hours and close down temporarily. In March and April last year, 22 million jobs were eliminated because of the pandemic.
The outlook for the US economy is brightening. The recovery from the Great Recession has been steady, with 18 million new hires and a whopping 575K expected in July alone! But it’s not all good news though – there are still 4 million fewer jobs than before we entered this economic downturn over 8 years ago.
It’s no coincidence that the number of people quitting their jobs in September is at an all-time high. With workers now feeling confident about finding something better, more are willing to walk away from bad opportunities rather than settle for less pay or working conditions without fighting back.
