Unemployment claims rise for second straight week as coronavirus spike curbs recovery

A large section of the population petitioning for unemployment benefits has given rise to the fear that the continuous and never-ending surge this coronavirus is undoing all the good progress that the labor market had achieved post the first shutdown.

The Labor department shared the recent numbers- close to 2 million people have asked for unemployment benefits in the last week, which brings the numbers to around 54 million. The last date for the report was on July 25, so one can easily see how the number keeps on rising each day.

Refinitiv mentioned that there would be 1.45 million new claims before the next month gets over. This is the 19th straight week where the demand for unemployment benefits has gone over 1 million. The previous highest was in 1982 when 700,000 people were clamoring for it. The last week’s total has been revised up with 6000- bringing the total number to 1.42 million.

With the continuation of claims, the number of people who have been heavily dependant on the benefits since the first week of aid has risen by 867,000 to 17 million now. California has jumped as the state with the highest claim for unemployment benefits, closely followed by Virginia, Nevada, and Oregon.

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