1.5 Million File For Unemployment, But Continuing Claims Decrease Slightly

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NPR

1.5 Million File For Unemployment, But Continuing Claims Decrease Slightly
June 18, 20208:34 AM ET

Another 1.5 million people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, a decline of 58,000.

But the number who are continuing to seek the payments is continuing to fall as workers return to their jobs. The Labor Department said continued claims dipped by 62,000 to 20.5 million.

In the past 13 weeks, since the early days of the coronavirus crisis, new claims have totaled a staggering 45.7 million.

The nation's unemployment rate was 13.3% last month, even as states began to ease lockdowns and reopen their economies. That's down slightly from April's spike to 14.7%, which was the highest since the Great Depression. The Federal Reserve expects it to still be more than 9% by the end of 2020.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/18/879729334/1-5-million-file-for-unemployment-but-continuing-claims-decrease-slightly

---

https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

News Release
Connect with DOL at https://blog.dol.gov

TRANSMISSION OF MATERIALS IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL
8:30 A.M. (Eastern) Thursday, June 18, 2020

COVID-19 Impact
The COVID-19 virus continues to impact the number of initial claims and insured unemployment. This report includes information on claimants filing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation claims.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending June 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,508,000, a decrease of 58,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 24,000 from 1,542,000 to 1,566,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,773,500, a decrease of 234,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 6,000 from 2,002,000 to 2,008,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 14.1 percent for the week ending June 6, unchanged from the previous week's revised rate. The previous week's rate was revised down by 0.3 from 14.4 to 14.1 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 6 was 20,544,000, a decrease of 62,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 323,000 from 20,929,000 to 20,606,000. The 4-week moving average was 20,814,750, a decrease of 1,092,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 80,750 from 21,987,500 to 21,906,750.

{snip several pages}

[Bengus81]

1. Oh well then the next report in a couple of weeks will show a 4% unemployment rate!!!

The July report will be as much BULLSHIT as the one in June.

[Wuddles440]

5. Agree and expect...

more "incredible, beautiful" numbers now until the election in November (assuming that there actually is one). I trust absolutely nothing from this administration and especially so regarding the Treasury and Commerce Departments! Along with the "miscalculation" of unemployment numbers, were the retail sales numbers for May accurate (double the projections)? Doubtful!

[LenaBaby61]

2. The problem again is that .....

Coronavirus cases rise across U.S. as states reopen.

NEW YORK — States are rolling back lockdowns, but the coronavirus isn’t done with the U.S.

Cases are rising in nearly half the states, according to an Associated Press analysis, a worrying trend that could intensify as people return to work and venture out during the summer.

In Arizona, hospitals have been told to prepare for the worst. Texas has more hospitalized COVID-19 patients than at any time before. And the governor of North Carolina said recent jumps caused him to rethink plans to reopen schools or businesses.

READ MORE: U.S. coronavirus cases hit 2 million as some states see surges

There is no single reason for the surges. In some cases, more testing has revealed more cases. In others, local outbreaks are big enough to push statewide tallies higher. But experts think at least some are due to lifting stay-at-home orders, school and business closures, and other restrictions put in place during the spring to stem the virus’s spread.

The virus is also gradually fanning out.

“It is a disaster that spreads,” said Dr. Jay Butler, who oversees coronavirus response work at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It’s not like there’s an entire continental seismic shift and everyone feels the shaking all at once.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/7054748/coronavirus-cases-us-surge/

[progree]

3. Oh FFS, NPR. The unemployment rate was NOT 14.7% in April and it was NOT 13.3% in May,

the BLS admitted, as part of the original (and only) April and May reports, that the April 14.7% unemployment rate was low by "almost 5 percentage points" in April and the May 13.3% unemployment rate was low by "about 3 percentage points" in May. That means that the April unemployment rate was "almost" 19.7% in April and "about" 16.3% in May.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13560715

NPR (National Pentagon Radio during the lead-up to the GWB invasion of Iraq) must be undergoing some really horrendous funding cuts.

Here is the gold standard I've seen so far (dated 6/11/20) on the unemployment situation with a focus on continuing claims, both the state program and the new federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program -- the sum of the two is 29.5 Million (not seasonally adjusted) as of week ending May 23. https://www.democraticunderground.com/111688545

I see from today's 6/18/20 report ( https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf , OP has this link) that the continuing claims for the week ending May 30 is a tiny bit down to 29.2 Million including the new federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

[turbinetree]

4. Bullshit....................