The U.S. Department of Labor released unemployment data on Thursday (Jan. 21). Last week, the number of first-Time claims for unemployment benefits stood at 900,000, down 26,000 from the previous week, but still at a high level, indicating that the labor market recovery is stagnant. Figure shows the U.S. Department of Labor.
Another 900,000 U.S. workers filed for state unemployment benefits last week, down slightly from the previous week, but still at a high level, indicating a stagnant labor market recovery, alleged by economic experts, the U.S. unemployment data is frozen in the “winter of discontent” (winter of discontent).
The Labor Department released the latest unemployment data on Thursday (January 21), the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week was 900,000, down 26,000 from the previous week’s 926,000 (seasonally adjusted); better than market expectations, economists surveyed by Reuters predicted that the number of first-time claims last week or 910,000.
In an email to the Epoch Times, Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, said, “Some 44 weeks into the recession caused by the Epidemic, unemployment claims remained very high in the latest week.”
The Total and State Unemployment Benefits Program and the federal government fund new claims from self-employed, temporary workers and others who do not qualify for regular state unemployment benefits, with about 1.4 million people filing claims last week.
Hamrick said, “In fact, given these unemployment numbers, the concept of an ‘unsatisfying winter’ has taken on a new and more distressing meaning.”
Recent data show that the U.S. job market recovery has stalled, shedding 140,000 jobs in December 2020, the first job loss since a lockdown order was imposed across the country in April 2020 to slow the spread of the Chinese Communist virus, also known as Wuhan pneumonia and the new coronavirus. Meanwhile, retail sales saw their third consecutive monthly decline.
While weekly jobless claims have fallen from a record 6.9 million in March 2020, they are still well above the peak of 665,000 during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.
Business operations have never fully returned to normal due to the soaring number of confirmed cases and the impact of epidemic prevention restrictions, resulting in unemployment far exceeding pre-outbreak levels, with restaurants, gyms and other businesses where crowds tend to gather sharply reducing workers’ hours and forcing employers to lay off workers.
Hamrick noted, however, that “(the market) remains hopeful for a period later this year when the economy can begin to reopen.”
The Commerce Department report released Thursday also reinforced hopes that a rebound may be on the horizon, as it reported that future Home building permits accelerated by 4.5 percent to reach 1.709 million units in December 2020, the highest since August 2006. The permits usually lead home construction starts by one to two months. The report also showed that housing starts jumped 5.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.669 million units, the highest level since September 2006.
The Philadelphia Fed’s third report showed its business conditions index soared to 26.5 this month from 9.1 in December 2020, with factory employment measures also improving.
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