Unemployment Claims Are Rising Again Amid Covid-19 Surge

Weekly jobless claims ticked up for the second week in a row to 778,000 (on a seasonally adjusted basis), significantly more than the 733,000 claims experts were expecting—the data is a discouraging sign that the record-breaking surge in Covid-19 cases is beginning to impact the labor market.

Claims have been falling steadily—with the exception of a few weekly jumps—since March, but the pace of the recovery has slowed significantly over the last few months as coronavirus relief provisions from the spring began expiring.

Lawmakers in Washington have so far been unable to agree on another tranche of federal aid, despite a consensus among policymakers and experts that more stimulus is necessary to prop up the economy during the winter months before a coronavirus vaccine becomes widely available. Another 311,675 people filed claims through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program last week, which covers people not eligible for traditional state benefits like freelancers and gig workers.

20.5 million. That’s how many people received some form of government unemployment benefit last week. A recent report from the Century Foundation showed that when the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program and another emergency unemployment aid program expire at the end of December, 12 million people will lose benefits. Coronavirus cases continue to surge in the United States ahead of the holiday season. Two million cases were reported in a span of just two weeks, the New York Times reported, and more states and cities are imposing new restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.