New Florida jobless applications fall again — but U.S. figure stalls as economy continues slide
New applications for unemployment assistance in Florida fell for the fourth straight week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. But new jobless claims for the rest of the country unexpectedly stalled — a sign of ongoing weakness in the economy due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For the week ending Sept. 5, new claims in Florida totaled 36,541, down more than 9,000 from the previous week. Those who remained on unemployment for at least two consecutive weeks in Florida also fell — by more than 87,000, to 368,466.
But for the U.S., new jobless claims totaled 884,000 — unchanged from the previous week and above Bloomberg’s consensus forecast of 850,000. And the estimated U.S. unemployment rate climbed one percentage point on the week to 9.2%. States that saw large increases in new unemployment filings included California, Texas and Virginia. Puerto Rico also saw a large increase in new claims.
There is now a debate about the extent to which the $600 in federal pandemic unemployment assistance was deterring workers from taking jobs.
According to the New York Times, one-third of small-business owners surveyed by the National Federation of Independent Business said the assistance hindered hiring. Meanwhile, a new Yale study concluded there was no disincentive effect. What may be true is something in between, the Times said: “Laid-off employees who expect to be rehired may prefer to wait for a callback than switch to a new job.”
Other signs suggest some improvement in the labor market.
Last week, data showed the U.S. economy added 1.371 million payrolls for August, a result that exceeded economists’ expectations. And Wednesday, the government reported 6.6 million job openings in July, topping expectations by over 600,000, Yahoo Finance said.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 8:54 AM.
