Whoa, Nellie! Initial claims for unemployment benefits through regular state programs climbed to 1.15 million on an unadjusted basis for the week ended January 9. On a seasonally adjusted basis claims rose to 965,000, an increase of 181,000 in the week.
Add 284,000 new claims filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, an emergency federal program for freelancers, part-time workers and others normally ineligible for state jobless benefits.
It was the first week since July in which the unadjusted number of new state claims exceeded one million. Before the pandemic, weekly filings typically totaled around 200,000.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting that the seasonally adjusted claims figure would come in at 789,000 for the week.
The numbers are hard to interpret with any preision, although there is no doubt that they’re grim. The holidays may have temporarily depressed unemployment claims in previous weeks and the $300 weekly unemployment benefits increase in the recently passed coronavirus relief and stimulus bill led to an increase in the number of workers filing claims.
The biggest question is when the job market might turn to the upside. Economists project that it might take until summer for an significant improvement in unemployment.
