How Many People Filed For Unemployment In 2020

Percent Change In Employment From Previous Month By Industry

All of the major sectors in Texas saw job losses in April 2020, after the state shut down in response to the pandemic. The trade, transportation and utilities, professional and business services, and financial activities sectors added more jobs than they lost between March 2020 and May 2021.

• Note: Payroll employment estimates are seasonally adjusted.
• Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Roughly 1 In 4 Young Workers Were Unemployed In The Second Quarter Of 2020

In terms of the increase in the unemployment rate, the labor market disruption in the early months of the pandemic was greatest among younger workers. For people ages 16 to 24, for example, the unemployment rate jumped to 24.2 percent in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 15.9 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2019. By the fourth quarter of 2020, the unemployment rate for people ages 16 to 24 was back down to 12.0 percent, albeit still 3.7 percentage points higher than it was at the end of 2019. This is largely a reflection of younger workers being more likely than older workers to be employed in food preparation and serving related occupations, an occupational group hit particularly hard at the onset of the pandemic. Younger workers are also more likely to be employed part time and, as previously mentioned, employment declined more sharply among part-time workers in the early stages of the recession.

Employment for people ages 16 to 24 fell by 4.9 million, or 25.1 percent, from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020. Employment for this age group rebounded by 3.7 million from the second quarter to the fourth quarter of 2020, but the level was still down by 1.1 million over the year. The employmentpopulation ratio was 48.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, 2.7 percentage points lower than it was a year earlier. Much of the employment decline occurred among those ages 20 to 24.

A Depressing Number Of People Lost Their Jobs During The Great Depression

Prior to the Great Depression, the U.S. had reached the dizzying crescendo of an all-out lending bender. As the Encyclopedia Britannica details, throughout the Roaring ’20s stock prices skyrocketed, with millions of shares ultimately being purchased with loans that would in turn be paid for by the rising price of those very same shares. A tiny portion of the population accumulated unfathomable wealth. PBS says that one tenth of one percent of society made as much money as the bottom 42 percent of the country.

On October 29, 1929, America’s titanic economy slammed into a hubris-sized iceberg. When share prices inevitably began to drop, a frenzy of investor sell-offs hastened the sinking of the stock market. Meanwhile, President Herbert Hoover sucked. Failing to see the enormity of the situation, he emphasized a trickle-down approach to relief that bolstered banks and ignored the poor. By 1933, one out of every five banks in the nation had failed. Jobs evaporated like rain in the Dust Bowl, and the number of unemployed Americans eventually exceeded 15 million people, roughly a quarter of the country’s workforce at the time.

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How We Conducted This Study

The data for this study come from two sources. Data on health insurance coverage come from the 2019 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey . The CPS is a primary source of labor force statistics for the U.S. population and is cosponsored by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March 2019, the CPS interviewed nearly 95,000 households, covering 180,000 individuals. The March CPS collects information on health insurance coverage for both the prior calendar year and at the time the survey is fielded. Data on whether workers had employee-only, employee-plus-one, or family coverage are also available.

Data on unemployed workers come from Characteristics of the Unemployment Insurance Claimants, a monthly report published by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor.12 These monthly characteristics reports have rarely if ever been used in research and should not be confused with the familiar Unemployment Insurance Claims Report . The weekly claims report is a bare-bones report that provides simple weekly counts of the number of initial and continued unemployment insurance claimants in each state. In contrast, the characteristics report is a detailed monthly report of the industry, occupation, and demographic characteristics of unemployment recipients in each state.13

Blacks Asians And Hispanics Were More Adversely Affected Than Whites By The Pandemic

In 2020, employment fell sharply for all race and ethnicity groups, as evidenced by declines in the employmentpopulation ratios for Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics.9 Improvements in the second half of the year were not substantial enough to make up for the steep drops that occurred in the second quarter. However, some groups were affected more than others. Although the ratio for Whites decreased by 3.2 percentage points over the year, to 57.9 percent, the declines in the employmentpopulation ratios for Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians were more pronounced. The ratio for Blacks decreased to 53.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, a loss of 5.1 percentage points over the year. The employmentpopulation ratios for Hispanics and Asians also fell sharply during 2020, with the ratio for Hispanics decreasing by 4.8 percentage points, to 59.6 percent, and the ratio for Asians decreasing by 4.4 percentage points, to 58.2 percent.

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Ui System Still Plagued By Delays

One year into the pandemic, states still cant process claims as fast as they did in 2019, or during the Great Recession. Despite tremendous success in delivering aid, major delays in processing have been the achilles heel of the UI program. These delays have not only frustrated claimants, but also they have put the unemployed at risk of hunger and homelessness while they wait.

Unemployment In The Eu And The Euro Area

Eurostat estimates that 14.613 million men and women in the EU-27, of whom 12.334 million in the euro area , were unemployed in July 2021. Compared with June 2021, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 430 000 in the EU and by 350 000 in the euro area. Compared with July 2020, unemployment decreased by 1.521 million in the EU and by 1.336 million in the euro area.

In July 2021, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.6 %, down from 7.8 % in June 2021 and from 8.4 % in July 2020. The EU unemployment rate was 6.9 % in July 2021, down from 7.1 % in June 2021 and from 7.6 % in July 2020.

are available here.

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There Are Too Many Ways To Lose Unemployment Compensation

• Reddit

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, existing unemployment insurance programs were unable to meet the extraordinary demand from workers abruptly displaced from their jobs. Programs authorized by Congress extended and expanded access to UI. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance expanded access to UI benefits for up to 39 weeks for those not eligible for regular UI . Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation extended the number of weeks of benefits that are available to regular UI recipients. Unemployment compensation programs support families who have lost employment, helping them to weather the economic crisis while promoting consumer spending more broadly.

Colorados Unemployment Numbers Will Be Even Worse This Week

Preliminary figures show 45,000 people filed initial unemployment applications in the first three days of this week in Colorado, a figure that has already doubled last weeks record-breaking numbers.

The rush of new claims comes as more businesses close and as the state improves its unemployment computer systems, allowing more people to complete their applications.

Meanwhile, newly released federal data showed that 19,745 people filed for unemployment in Colorado last week.

The avalanche of unemployment claims has shattered previous records. In Colorado, the worst week of the Great Recession saw about 8,000 claims. Of course, the 2008 crisis eliminated many more jobs in total, but the U.S. has never seen so many layoffs concentrated in such a short time.

Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Labor counted about 3.3 million new claims, compared to a previous record of about 700,000 in 1982.

This weeks numbers came as Gov. Jared Polis statewide remain-at-home order is likely to close more businesses or limit their hours. Additionally, high demand has threatened to overwhelm the states unemployment services, resulting in glitches that blocked many people from filing a claim last week.

Turner finally succeeded on Tuesday, when his application went through perfectly. Several other people told CPR that they were able to get their applications through this week, too. Polis said earlier that the state was working to expand the sites capacity.

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What About State Taxes

More than half of states levy an income tax on jobless benefits. States will have to decide if they will also offer the tax break on state income taxes.

Its possible that some may still opt to tax the jobless aid, experts say.

Some already exempt taxes on unemployment, including California, New Jersey, Virginia, Montana and Pennsylvania. And some dont levy state income taxes at all, including Texas, Florida, Alaska, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming and South Dakota.

Unemployment Rises In 2020 As The Country Battles The Covid

Total civilian employment fell by 8.8 million over the year, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the economic expansion to a sudden halt, taking a tremendous toll on the U.S. labor market. The unemployment rate increased in 2020, surging to 13.0 percent in the second quarter of the year before easing to 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Although some people were able to work at home, the numbers of unemployed on temporary layoff, those working part time for economic reasons, and those unemployed for 27 or more weeks increased sharply over the year.

A decade-long economic expansion ended early in 2020, as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and efforts to contain it led businesses to suspend operations or close, resulting in a record number of temporary layoffs. The pandemic also prevented many people from looking for work. For the first 2 months of 2020, the economic expansion continued, reaching 128 months, or 42 quarters. This was the longest economic expansion on record before millions of jobs were lost because of the pandemic.1

Total civilian employment, as measured by the Current Population Survey , fell by 21.0 million from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020, while the unemployment rate more than tripled, from 3.6 percent to 13.0 percent. This was the highest quarterly average unemployment rate in the history of the CPS.2

The CPS and the CES

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Around 12 Million People Filed For Unemployment Benefits For The First Time Last Week

Just under 1.2 million people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, a decline from the past two weeks but still the 20th straight week of claims above 1 million. The weekly total of 1.186 million is lower than economist predictions of 1.4 million claims.

The weekly data, released Thursday by the Department of Labor, comes ahead of Friday’s highly anticipated monthly jobs report, which offers a more comprehensive though backward-looking assessment of the labor market. While the unemployment rate is expected to have fallen to around 10.6 percent, recent layoffs by businesses affected by the spike in coronavirus rates in some parts of the country are unlikely to have been captured in the monthly snapshot.

Just this week, Booking Holdings, which operates travel sites such as Kayak and booking.com, said it would be slashing its workforce by 25 percent, laying off 4,000 people. Nike announced it would be cutting 500 workers from its Oregon headquarters. NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News, also laid off around 10 percent of its 35,000-strong workforce.

Global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said U.S. employers announced a total of 262,649 job cuts in July, the third-largest monthly total since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to Reuters. Layoffs for the year to date are currently just 109,180 away from the record 1.957 million job cuts announced in 2001.

Europe’s Economy Was Hit Hard Too But Jobs Didn’t Disappear Like In The Us

As more and more workers lose jobs, many states say they are seeing the trust funds used to pay unemployment benefits begin to run low.

Nearly half the states say they have seen double-digit decline in their funds, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.

New York, which has burned through half of its fund, has asked for a $4 billion no-interest loan from the federal government to cover unemployment benefits. More than a million people in the state have lost their jobs.

Massachusetts says its fund is also down by half since mid-February, and California has seen a 40% decline.

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Unprecedented Levels Of Support Went To Workers

Since March 2020, $637 billion has been paid out to jobless workers, supporting them and their families. Unemployment insurance, for many, has been the one thing keeping food on the table and the lights and heat on. While state UI benefits in most states replace only 3040 percent of workers pre-layoff wages, Congress stepped in as the pandemic first raged to provide an additional $600 per week to jobless workers. This federal program lapsed in late July 2020, but was reinstated by the December stimulus package, though at only $300 per week. The American Rescue Plan Act will keep this supplement in place through September 6, reducing food and housing insecurity among unemployed workers and their families.

Over the course of the pandemic, a startling one in four American workers has received at least one unemployment payment. Powered by expansions in the CARES Act and the December stimulus, federal and state unemployment benefits have had an unprecedented reach.

Figure 2

With Millions Of Workers Receiving Unemployment Benefits And No End In Sight For The Covid

Another 1.5 million people applied for unemployment insurance benefits last week. That includes 837,000 people who applied for regular state UI and 650,000 who applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance . PUA is the federal program for workers who are not eligible for regular unemployment insurance, like gig workers. It provides up to 39 weeks of benefits, but it is set to expire at the end of this year. The 1.5 million who applied for UI last week was unchanged from the prior week.

Note: California has shut down all new UI claims while they prepare an updated identity verification system to combat fraud, but the Department of Labor adjusted for that in their published numbers. UI fraud is not about individuals filing a one or two fraudulent claims, but sophisticated schemes involving extensive identity theft and the overriding of security systems. That UI systems are vulnerable to these attacks is no great surprise, given that UI agencies are often working on computer systems that are decades old. One take-home message here is that we need to invest heavily in the technology of our UI systems.

Most states provide 26 weeks of regular benefitsand the coronavirus crisis has now lasted more than six months. That means many workers are exhausting their regular state UI benefits. In the most recent data, continuing claims for regular state UI dropped by almost a million, from 12.75 million to 11.77 million.

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Californias Labor Market By The Numbers

• Californiaâs month-over unemployment rate increased from 8.1 percent in November to 9.0 in December2 marking the stateâs first month-over rate increase since April 2020.
• Despite the decline, six of Californiaâs 11 industry sectors saw job gains last month. Construction had the stateâs largest month-over increase thanks to strong gains in Specialty Trade Contractors and Construction of Buildings.
• Professional and Business Services had the stateâs second-largest month-over increase due to large gains in Accounting, Tax Preparation, and Bookkeeping, as well as Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting.
• Leisure and Hospitality suffered the largest month-over loss largely due to severe losses in Accommodation and Food Services, which accounted for 83.2 percent of the industry sectorâs overall loss.

1. The nonfarm payroll job numbers come from a federal survey of 80,000 California businesses. 2. The unemployment rate comes from a separate federal survey of 5,100 California households.

Unemployment Rate In Texas

• Source: Texas Workforce Commission

Every major industry in Texas suffered losses in jobs when the coronavirus began spreading last spring. Employment in leisure and hospitality, which includes jobs in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, dropped by 38% â over 500,000 jobs â from March to April 2020. Almost 150,000 jobs in that sector were added back the next month. The mining and logging sector, which includes the oil and gas industry, saw employment decrease by 11% from March to April 2020 and continue to drop for several more months. Jobs in education and health services also fell by 10% in April 2020.

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