California unemployment claims hit another record high.
California unemployment claims have soared to their highest level for more than a month, state officials said. This is a grim sign of the continued weakening of California’s fragile job market due to the shutdown of economic activity from the new crown (Chinese Communist virus) Epidemic. According to the federal Department of Labor, 158,600 people filed for unemployment benefits for the first Time last week, an increase of 26,600 in the previous week, the highest since Jan. 9. That week, 182,600 people filed for unemployment.
Across the U.S., 861,000 people applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending Feb. 13, up 13,000 from the week of Feb. 6. California accounts for a significant percentage of the nation’s unemployment claims. Despite having only 11 percent of the nation’s workforce, California accounted for 18.4 percent of the nation’s unemployment claims last week, compared to 6.3 percent a few weeks earlier in the week of Jan. 23. For three consecutive weeks since then, California’s unemployment claims have risen sharply in proportion to the nation as a whole, from 12.9% in the week of January 30, to 15.3% on February 6, and now to nearly 20%.
The trend of increasing jobless claims in California is quite unfavorable to the labor market. For the four weeks ending February 13, an average of 114,800 people applied for unemployment benefits in one week, an increase of 13,000 over the four-week average of unemployment claims ending February 6.
California and local governments have suspended business activity since mid-March in response to the new crown virus, resulting in a continued rise in the number of unemployment benefit claims. However, former California Employment Development Director Michael Bernick (Michael Bernick) pointed out that even in times of economic strength, California still has an average of 40,000-50,000 people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time each week. He said that about a year ago, in the second week of February 2020, 40,392 people applied for unemployment benefits in California.
With the high number of unemployment claims, Cal EDD also continues to struggle to pay unemployment claims and is working on unemployment theft and identity theft cases. In addition, according to EDD’s verification of companies conducting layoffs, many Bay Area companies are planning to close permanently.
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CSAA Insurance closes Fairfield office. 16 job cuts.
True Leaf Farms closes its Gonzales, Monterey County facility. Job cuts of 44.
Postmates, which was acquired by Uber in December, eliminated 69 jobs in San Francisco.
Many California workers have lost their jobs because the new crown has forced many businesses to close and not restart, the job market is weak and both employers and employees are facing a bleak economic outlook. Bernick said thousands of businesses in California have closed permanently.
Across the United States, 861,000 people applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending Feb. 13, up 13,000 from the week of Feb. 6.
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