Last week’s decline in applications was broad-based, with 36 states (including Indiana) and the District of Columbia reporting fewer people seeking unemployment benefits. That suggests that employers might be cutting fewer jobs.
The figures underscore that the job market has stalled, with employers having added a mere 49,000 jobs in January after cutting workers in December.
The Senate Pensions and Labor Committee on Wednesday discussed Senate Bill 44, which would authorize the Indiana Department of Workforce Development to implement a work-sharing program, but the chairman of the committee refused to vote on the bill.
Thursday’s government report showed a sizable rise in the total number of Americans who are receiving jobless aid, including through extended benefit programs—a sign that long-term unemployment may be growing.
More than 1.5 million people quit their jobs voluntarily because of the pandemic last year and filed for unemployment insurance, according to data from the Department of Labor, more than twice the amount over the same period in 2019.
Simple tax forms being mailed to people who never collected unemployment benefits are revealing their identities were likely stolen months ago and used to claim bogus benefits that have totaled billions of dollars across the country.
Overall, nearly 4.8 million Americans received traditional state unemployment benefits the week of Jan. 16. That is down from nearly 5 million the week before.
Indiana’s unemployment rate continued to improve in December, decreasing from 5.1% in November to 4.3% last month, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Economists say one factor that likely increased jobless claims in the past two weeks is a government financial aid package that was signed into law in late December.
The latest layoffs have been heavily concentrated in the industries that have suffered most because they involve face-to-face contact: Restaurants, bars and hotels, theaters, sports arenas and concert halls.
Friday’s figures from the Labor Department suggest that employers have rehired roughly all the workers they can afford to after having laid off more than 22 million in the spring—the worst such loss on record.
In Indiana, 15,515 people filed initial unemployment claims in the week ended Jan. 2, up from an adjusted number of 12,013 the previous week.
In Indiana, 12,732 people filed initial unemployment claims in the week ended Dec. 26, up from an adjusted number of 12,234 the previous week.
The coronavirus relief bill adds an additional $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits for individuals for another 11 weeks.
If Trump does not sign the $900 billion stimulus package, 12 million Americans will lose unemployment aid after Christmas.
The latest figure, released Wednesday by the Labor Department, shows that many employers are still cutting jobs as the pandemic tightens business restrictions and leads many consumers to stay home.
However, Indiana’s labor-force participation rate drooped from 63.1% in October to 62.9% in November. The rate indicates the percentage of all people of working age who are employed or are actively seeking work.
The state received $2.4 billion earlier this year from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund, which was established in the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act. The funding must be used for pandemic-related expenses incurred before Dec. 30.
America’s employers added 245,000 jobs in November, the fewest since April and the fifth straight monthly slowdown, the Labor Department said Friday.
Texas, Michigan and Georgia. Illinois, Oregon and Indiana reported the largest increases in filings during the holiday week.
