According to latest unemployment benefit filings, more Americans applied for benefits, despite signs that the labour market is rebounding from last year’s coronavirus recession.
Apparently not all boats rise with the tide, but it appears as though some firms are experiencing a recovery in their business.
According to historical standards, the number of jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 206,000. In the Labor Department’s release of data Thursday, the four-week average, which smooths out volatility week to week, fell by more than 16,000 to less than 204,000, its lowest level since mid-November 1969.
In all, 1.8 million people received traditional unemployment benefits in the week ending Dec. 4. This was down by 154,000 from the week before.
In the first week of January, weekly jobless claims topped 900,000, a proxy for layoffs. Since then, they have decreased steadily. After the emergence of COVID-19, business shuts for health reasons, consumers stay home, and businesses cut back on hours and lay off workers. Sales are now below the normal level of 220,000 a week, which was the typical level before the pandemic hit the U.S. economy in March 2020. A staggering 22.4 million jobs were lost by employers in March and April last year.
In response to massive government assistance and the rollout of vaccines, Americans were able to go shopping online, often for goods like lawn furniture and coffee makers, helping to revive the economy and job market. Nearly 18.5 million jobs have been reclaimed by the United States since April last year. However, 3.9 million jobs remain unfilled as of February 2020, and COVID variants such as omicron pose a threat to the recovery.
Last month, employers created 210,000 jobs. As well as the unemployment rate dropping to a pandemic low of 4.2% from 4.6% in October, the November jobs report indicated a surge in the number of jobs available.
October saw a record number of job openings, with nearly 11 million positions posted by employers. The September record for job resignations was 4.4 million. These figures demonstrate that people are confident enough in their prospects to look for a better position.
