Initial jobless claims in Bartholomew County remained relatively stable last week, ticking up slightly as the number of the overall number of laid-off Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell in what analysts say is evidence that the pandemic keeps forcing many businesses to slash jobs.
A total of 115 initial unemployment claims were filed in Bartholomew County the week ending Aug. 29, up from 108 the week before but significantly lower than 1,845 the week ending April 11, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Additionally, a total of 1,394 Bartholomew County workers were drawing jobless benefits the week ending Aug. 22, down from a revised figure of 1,511 the week prior, but still well below the 5,039 workers receiving benefits the week ending May 2.
In Indiana, 10,783 people sought jobless aid the week ending Aug. 29, up from a revised 10,597 the previous week.
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The latest local figures came as the Labor Department reported that number of laid-off Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a still-elevated 881,000 last week, evidence that the viral pandemic keeps forcing many businesses to slash jobs, according to The Associated Press.
The national figures, released Thursday, suggest that nearly six months after the eruption of the coronavirus, the economy is still struggling to sustain a recovery and rebuild a job market that was devastated by the recession, according to wire reports. In the previous week, more than 1 million had sought jobless aid.
All told, the government said that 13.3 million people are continuing to receive traditional jobless benefits, up from 1.7 million a year ago, according to wire reports.
The nearly 1 million people who keep applying for unemployment aid each week point to a sluggish pace of improvement. Before the pandemic struck the economy in March, the number of people seeking jobless aid had never topped 700,000 in a week, not even during the depths of the 2007-2009 Great Recession. The economy has recovered 9.3 million, or only 42%, of the jobs that were lost in March and April.
“The data show that layoffs remain widespread and the recovery in the labor market is occurring at a frustratingly slow pace,” economists Nancy Vanden Houten and Gregory Daco of Oxford Economics wrote in a research note.
Thursday’s figure, though historically high, marked the lowest number of jobless claims since the viral pandemic first paralyzed the economy in March, according to The Associated Press.
But beginning this week, the department tweaked the way it adjusts its calculations to account for seasonal changes, thereby making it difficult to compare last week’s figure with previous weeks. Unadjusted for seasonal variations, though, the numbers show that 833,000 Americans applied for benefits last week, up from 826,000 the week before.
In addition to the laid-off people who applied last week for state benefits, 759,000 others sought jobless aid under a new program that has made self-employed and gig workers eligible for the first time, according to wire reports. That figure isn’t adjusted for seasonal trends, so it’s reported separately. But including that group, the Labor Department said 29.2 million people are receiving some form of unemployment benefits, though that figure might be inflated by double-counting by some states.
A wave of layoff announcements by major companies has heightened concerns that many job losses will end up being permanent, according to wire reports. Ford is offering buyouts to try to shrink its U.S. white-collar workforce by 1,400. MGM Resorts is laying off 18,000, about a fourth of its U.S. staff. Coca-Cola, heavily reliant on entertainment venues, is offering buyouts to 4,000.
United and American airlines, hurt by diminished air travel, said they will cut thousands of jobs unless the government provides additional aid to help cover payroll costs. Salesforce is cutting 1,000 jobs, Bed Bath & Beyond 2,800, according to the AP.
The recovery remains fragile because of a still-elevated level of confirmed COVID-19 cases and the government’s failure to enact another emergency rescue package. The recent expiration of a $600-a-week federal jobless benefit has deepened the difficulties for America’s unemployed, according to wire reports. The Trump administration is now providing a stripped-down version of that benefit — $300 a week — though not all the unemployed will qualify for it.
Many economists warn that mass layoffs will continue and that any recovery will likely falter as long as the virus rages and Congress doesn’t extend another round of rescue aid for the unemployed and for state and local governments. The economy, in the meantime, will likely struggle.
