Amid rising COVID-19 cases, US sees sharp increase in jobless claims

The United States, the world’s largest economy, saw a sharp increase in new filings for jobless benefits last week as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of slowing down in the States. According to an AFP report, this might be a sign that the unemployment crisis could be intensifying again.

On Thursday, the Labor Department reported a seasonally adjusted 742,000 new claims for unemployment benefits filed in the week ended November 14, and 320,237 claims, not seasonally adjusted, made separately under a program for workers not normally eligible for jobless aid.

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The worrying increase comes as lawmakers in Washington made a tentative restart to talks on enacting another stimulus spending measure, after extra payments to the unemployed and loans and grants to small businesses that helped the economy through the early months of the pandemic expired earlier this year.

As per an AFP report, the data marked the 35th straight week that new jobless claim applications have remained above the worst single week of the 2008-2010 global financial crisis. And analysts fear the latest increase is just the beginning.

“Given the trajectory of the pandemic, we may be stuck in the one million a week range of Americans claiming benefits (both state and federal) for some time, and we’ll be lucky if that level doesn’t rise by 100,000 to 200,000 additional claims per week,” AFP quoted Robert Frick of Navy Federal Credit Union as saying.

The country saw 157,950 new infections over the 24 hours prior to Wednesday, the same day total deaths from the disease climbed above 250,000.

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A senior Democratic aide confirmed to AFP that the staff to top congressional leaders were meeting to see if there was a way forward on passing a successor to the massive $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March.

That bill helped keep the economy afloat through the spring and summer but many of its provisions have since lapsed, and a study from The Century Foundation progressive think tank released Wednesday said nearly 12 million unemployed people will be relying on aid programs under the bill that expire on December 26.

President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday again reiterated his call for lawmakers to approve stimulus, warning states could cut services and layoff teachers, police officers and other public employees without it.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan warned the renewed virus surge could cause another contraction in economic growth in the fourth quarter.

US growth cratered by a record 31.4% annualised in the second quarter as business shutdowns to stop the virus’s spread took their toll, but rebounded 33.1% as states moved to ease the shutdowns.