(Silver Doctors Editors) Millions more have just filed for unemployment claims for the first time over the last week.
Here’s the latest release, from the Department of Labor:
In the week ending May 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 2,981,000, a decrease of
195,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 7,000 from 3,169,000 to
3,176,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,616,500, a decrease of 564,000 from the previous week’s revised average.
The previous week’s average was revised up by 7,000 from 4,173,500 to 4,180,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 15.7 percent for the week ending May 2, an increase
of 0.3 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.1 from
15.5 to 15.4 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May
2 was 22,833,000, an increase of 456,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised
down by 270,000 from 22,647,000 to 22,377,000. The 4-week moving average was 19,760,000, an increase of 2,729,750
from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 67,500 from 17,097,750 to
17,030,250.
With accompanying charts:
Here’s how the mainstream is reporting on this morning’s news:
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits remained in the millions for an eighth straight week as the economy continued to reel from the coronavirus pandemic.
Initial jobless claims in state programs totaled 2.98 million in the week ended May 9, Labor Department figures showed Thursday. Economists had projected 2.5 million, based on the median estimate.
While filings have eased for a sixth straight week, a total of 36.5 million applications for unemployment insurance have been filed since the virus began shutting down businesses in mid-March. That’s nearing the level of all claims filed during the last recession, which ran for 18 months.
After 8 weeks of claims in the millions, it seems the “markets” have become numb to such releases:
Additional mainstream coverage shows the numbers may not be entirely accurate, however, due to “antiquated” systems.
From Marketwatch:
What happened: The mind-numbing torrent of layoffs has tapered off from a pandemic peak of 6.9 million at the end of March, but the economy cannot afford to keep losing a few million jobs a week. Many states are trying to reignite their economies, but so far it’s been slow going.
Last week the states of Florida, California, Georgia, Texas and New York reported the most new jobless claims, according to the Labor Department.
Lots of states are still underreporting new claims, however, because of antiquated computer systems and small staffs that have been unable to handle the crush of applications. It may be some weeks before they are all caught up.
Does that mean we could see a spike in the numbers soon?
If so, what would that mean for the “markets”?
Developing…