US citizens claiming unemployment benefits fall to new low of 290,000 since COVID outbreak

As companies began to avoid workers lay off, the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits has witnessed a new low since since the COVID-19 outbreak, the United States Department of Labour (DoL) said in a news release on Thursday. The numbers of unemployment benefit claimants in the initial part of the week around 16 October were 2,90,000, which was 6,000 less than the last week. The recorded number has been the lowest since 14 March, 2020, the time when COVID-19 pandemic intensified.

Additionally, applications for unemployment aid, which also identify the number of layoffs from work have also seen a steady decline from January. As per the government's data, the numbers fell by 9,00,000 since January. Meanwhile, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate, which was 1.8 percent for the week ending 9 October, had observed a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the previous week's unrevised rate. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since 14 March, 2020, when it was 1,770,000.

"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending 9 October was 2,481,000, a decrease of 122,000 from the previous week's revised level," the Department of Labour said in its statement.

People recieving unemployment aid fall steadily

Despite the lags, the number of people drawing unemployment insurance (UI) dropped steadily since September. As per the DoL news release, at least 3.3 million recieved UI on 2 October, which was lowered by a 0.3 million from its previous week. The number has been notably down from 24 million, which was around the same time last year.

While unemployment claims have begun returning to normal, experts have raised concerns about people who might have stopped looking for jobs after the pandemic. As per the Associated Press, the American recruitment process has seen a considerable slug in the past two months. The situation arose despite a near-record number of hiring was listed around the time.

Experts like Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as reported by the Associated Press, had hoped that employment would increase from September after educational institutions resumed and job sectors began opening up. However, the scenario has remained far from expected. Some observers have also pointed out that employed people who lost their jobs after or during the pandemic might have stopped fetching jobs currently, including the number of retirements. It is worth mentioning that at least 22 million people were laid off from jobs due to the pandemic, a member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors said on Tuesday, as per AP.  

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