Jobless Claims Falling

For the first time in a long time jobless claims fell by 330,000 to 860,000 for the week ended September 12 as reported by the labor department. Economists had forecasted around 875,000 jobless claims.

These new and encouraging figures are the lowest since the lockdowns and the pandemic hit, which drove jobless claims to extreme highs.

Unemployment hit a record high of 6.87 million by March 27 only 12 days after the start of the lockdowns. Seeing subsequent rises throughout the lockdown reaching 20.5 million jobs lost by May and an unemployment rate of 14.7 percent which is highest its been since the great depression.

As the lockdowns have begun to be lifted, we are seeing a resurgence in the economy. A strength to both the American economy and the financial markets. As both claims for unemployment are dropping so is the unemployment rate dropping from 14.7 percent to 8.4 percent. This means the total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 1.4 million in August alone according to the Bureau of Labor and statistics as report on September 4, 2020.

States with some of the highest unemployment (percent) to date:

Michigan (8.7), Delaware, Ohio, West Virginia (8.9), New Jersey (10.9), California (11.4), Hawaii and New York (12.5), Rhode Island (12.8), Nevada (13.2).

While we are seeing overall growth and encouraging economic factors in the economy there is no doubt pockets and states struggling.