New U.S. Unemployment Claims Drop Below 2 Million, but Total Claims Top 42 Million

The number of new unemployment claims filed last week dropped to 1.88 million, the first time weekly claims didn’t exceed 2 million since mid-March.

Still, the total number of claims filed since government restrictions closed businesses deemed nonessential to slow the spread of COVID-19 surpassed 42 million in the 11 weeks since states began shutting down significant parts of their economy.

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US Job Losses in May Could Raise 3-Month Total to 30 Million

The epic damage to America’s job market from the viral outbreak will come into sharper focus Friday when the government releases the May employment report: Eight million more jobs are estimated to have been lost. Unemployment could near 20%. And potentially fewer than half of all adults may be working.

Beneath the dismal figures will be signs that job cuts, severe as they are, are slowing as more businesses gradually or partially reopen. Still, the economy is mired in a recession, and any rebound in hiring will likely be painfully slow. Economists foresee unemployment remaining in double-digits through the November elections and into 2021.

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U.S. Unemployment Claims Top 40 Million Since March

More than 40 million Americans have filed unemployment claims since mid-March, when state governments across the U.S. began restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19, including closing businesses deemed nonessential.

Last week, an additional 2.12 million workers filed claims, according to U.S. Department of Labor data released Thursday, the 10 consecutive week in which new jobless claims were in the millions. The 2.12 million claims from the week ending July 23 is down 323,000 from the 2.44 million workers who filed for benefits in the week ending May 16 and is the lowest number of new claims since the week ending March 15.

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Commentary: America’s Youth Experience a Great Awakening, Coronavirus-Style

The Great Awakening.

History books tell us “The Great Awakening” was (according to Wikipedia), “The First Great Awakening (sometimes Great Awakening) or the Evangelical Revival was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and its Thirteen Colonies between the 1730s and 1740s. The revival movement permanently affected Protestantism as adherents strove to renew individual piety and religious devotion. The Great Awakening marked the emergence of Anglo-American evangelicalism as a trans-denominational movement within the Protestant churches. In the United States, the term Great Awakening is most often used, while in the United Kingdom, it is referred to as the Evangelical Revival.”

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More Than 47,000 File for Unemployment in Michigan as State Continues to Stay Shut Down

More than 47,000 people filed for unemployment in Michigan in the week ending May 9, bringing the state total to more than 1.7 million people in the state who have filed for unemployment insurance, according to recently released data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to the data, 47,438 people in Michigan filed for unemployment insurance in the state in the week ending May 9, down nearly 20,000 claimants from the previous week. Nearly 3 million people filed nationally.

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Nearly Three Million New Unemployment Claims Drives Two-Month Total to More Than 36 Million

New jobless claims continued their COVID-19 surge last week, driving the total number of those filing for unemployment benefits to more than 36 million over the past two months.

Even as many states across the country began easing restrictions and slowly reopening their economies, 2.98 million Americans filed for new unemployment benefits for the week ending May 9, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

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Report: Trump Preparing to Limit Temporary Workers into the US

President Donald Trump may prohibit some temporary workers from entering the U.S. in an executive order later this month, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Trump’s anticipated order, much like his recent immigration ban, is meant to help mitigate the spread of coronavirus while protecting U.S. workers amid a monumental downturn in the economy, the WSJ reported.

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April Jobs Report: 20.5 Million Jobs Lost, Unemployment at 14.7 Percent

The U.S. economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April, while the unemployment rate rose to 14.7%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons rose by 15.9 million to 23.1 million.

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Commentary: This Is What It Looks Like When You Shoot the Economy in the Head

25.4 million Americans have lost their jobs since February through mid-April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports — 17.3 million who are unemployed, and another 8.1 million who have left the labor force completely — in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic as Americans sit home and wait it out.

Although the Bureau tabulates a reported unemployment rate of 14.7 percent, if you count the 8.1 million who left the labor force, too, plus the 5.8 million who were already unemployed, and the number looks more like 18.9 percent.

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Analysis: Interest Rates Indicate Unemployment Will Grow as Trump Administration Eyes Phase Four Relief Spending

by Robert Romano   The unemployment rate will likely continue rising as the spread between the 10-year treasury on one side, and the 2-year and 3-month treasuries on the other, continue rising over the next weeks and months, an analysis of interest rates over the past four recession shows, according to…

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Commentary: Senate Paves Road to Reopening the Economy with Coronavirus Relief Bill, But When Will States Reopen Schools?

By a vote of 96-0, the U.S. Senate has passed a $2.2 trillion legislative package, by far the largest in U.S. history, to keep tens of millions of Americans on payroll and expand unemployment benefits to those who are laid off while the country waits out the deadly Chinese coronavirus that poses additional risk to seniors and those with underlying conditions.

That way, when the virus passes, those businesses, particularly the 30 million small businesses that are struggling most of all right now, but also critical industries, will be able to rapidly reopen and we can get back to our lives.

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Michigan Unemployment Claims Reach Record High

The economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic includes massive unemployment caused by government-mandated shutdowns of businesses throughout Michigan.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported 129,298 Michigan employees filed unemployment claims last week. Government figures indicate that number has increased from nearly 5,338 people filing unemployment claims reported March 14, a difference of more than 123,960.

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3.3 Million File Unemployment Claims in U.S. – a Record Number

Nearly 3.3 million Americans filed unemployment claims last week, a record number as businesses were forced to shut down to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that 3.28 million claims were filed in the week that ended March 21. That marked an increase of more than 3 million claims over the week prior, when 282,000 claims were filed.

The previous high in a single week, according to the department, was in October 1982, when about 695,000 claims were filed. The nearly 3.3 million claims filed last week is nearly five times the prior record.

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Commentary: The August Jobs Report Is Not ‘Mixed’ It’s Yuuge

The anti-Trump talking-down-the-economy crowd has America already in a recession, with POLITICO’s Morning Money leading its Thursday morning news with, “…manufacturing in recession and capital expenditures dropping, the strong consumer is the final leg holding up the U.S. economy. But the length of the workweek dipped in July, often a leading signal that employers are cutting back. A sharp slowdown in job creation could follow.”

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