Amid the coronavirus pandemic and rising unemployment rates, some are still hiring.
WASHINGTON – The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits fell last week to 860,000, a number traditionally higher than other people illustrating the enormous economic damage that still occurs nine months after the first case of COVID-19 detected in the United States.
The Department of Labor said Thursday that unemployment applications in the United States had fallen to 33,000 since last week and that 12. 6 million were receiving classic unemployment benefits, up from 1. 7 million a year ago.
The pandemic has caused a colossal surprise to the economy: until the pandemic disrupted american business activities, from factories to restaurants in the family circle, requests for weekly unemployment assistance had never exceeded 700,000 in the United States, which exceeded 700,000 for 26 consecutive weeks. .
The economy in general, measured through gross domestic product, collapsed at an annual rate of 31. 7% from April to June, during the 3 worst months ever recorded, while millions of jobs disappeared.
The economy and labour market have recovered from the initial shock. Employers signed 10. 6 million jobs from May to August, but that remains less than part of the jobs lost in March and April.
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The recovery remains fragile, threatened by ongoing COVID-19 infections as schools begin to reopen and the inability to provide an economic bailout to Washington, and corporations continue to lay off staff while absorbing sales lost to the pandemic.
Raytheon Technologies Corp. announced this week its goal of eliminating more than 15,000 jobs this year at its Pratt jet engine manufacturer offices.
A place to eat presents a “Current Recruitment” sign amid the coronavirus pandemic on August 4, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo via OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP Getty Images)
A steep decline has left airlines with tens of thousands more staff needed to operate the particularly small number of flights. This spring, airlines began receiving $ 25 billion in federal grants and loans to keep staff on their payroll for six months. On September 30, the 3 largest airlines in the US are expected to take leave or lay off about 40,000 employees beginning October 1.
Another $600 in weekly unemployment benefits sold out on July 31, restricting families who depended on the accumulation of payments. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on August 8 that offered a reduced edition of extended unemployment aid. allows them to accumulate weekly benefits through $300 or $400.
This program is expiring.
“Layoffs remain widespread and a traditionally high number of Americans continue to make some of the unemployment benefits,” Nancy Vanden Houten, Senior American Economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a study report. The package presents significant dangers to the economy and the labour market. , as recovery seems to be losing momentum ”.
Charissa Ward, 37, was fired in April from her homework as a waitress at a dining venue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios near Orlando, Florida. Since then, he has been helping his partner’s online retail business, requesting a task and hoping to see what Disney will do. “We don’t know when they’re going to call us, ” he said.
The additional $600 in weekly unemployment benefits updated all of her lost income, but helped her. The $300 cut he soon won from Trump’s show made life “a little less stressful. “
Last week, nearly 659,000 people implemented unemployment assistance under a new program that extends eligibility for the first time to self-employed workers and on demand, compared to 868,000 last week. of a pandemic does not conform to seasonal trends, so it is indicated separately.
In total, the Ministry of Labour reported that another 29. 8 million people were receiving some form of unemployment benefits, this figure can be inflated through double counting across states. has been inflated through fraud cases in California.
A resurgence in the summer of COVID-19 cases in the south and west forced many companies to close in July: knowledge company Womply discovers that closures have stabilized more commonly in recent weeks. , adding South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, when academics returned to campus.
But small businesses, especially in restaurants and retail stores, continue to close their doors and lay off workers, according to a Yelp customer review. The number of small businesses that have temporarily or permanently closed has increased since mid-July, Yelp said Wednesday. 160,000, reversing a steady decline since the spring.
And permanent closures continue to increase, Yelp said, with nearly 100,000 businesses permanently closed at the end of August. Restaurants and bars were mainly affected, adding desserts, burgers and sandwich shops. Restaurants that are more likely to deliver, such as pizzerias. , go better.
Unemployment claims “remain the main ones even if economic activity is more fully selected,” Rubeela Farooqi, America’s leading economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote Thursday. “The long-term threat continues to come from viral epidemics and intermittent interruptions in activity. In general, the labour market is weaker than in April, but remains at risk of permanent damage due to repeated ” closures.
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Christopher Rugaber, AP’s economics editor, contributed to this story.