The numbers: in the coronavirus epidemic or perhaps to more people applying for benefits after President Trump temporarily added $300 in extra federal payouts.
The increase in new claims wasn’t as bad as it seemed, however, based on actual or unadjusted figures. They rose a much smaller 52,776 to 891,510 and remained below 1 million for the third straight week. Unemployment is still extremely high by any measure, however. Jobless claims are almost five times higher now than they were before the pandemic struck. Earlier in the year they were running in the low 200,000s per week and stood near a 50-year low.
What happened: New claims rose slightly to an unadjusted 1.43 million last week if workers eligible under a separate federal program are counted. Some 542,797 freelance writers, self-employed people and gig workers like Uber drivers also applied for benefits last week. Altogether, 28.06 million people were still receiving benefits through eight state and federal assistance programs as of Aug. 1, the latest data available. That’s down from unadjusted 28.26 million in the prior week.
You posted an article yesterday about unemployment going up. Why would people want to go back to work when they can make more money doing nothing?