According to data released by the US Labour Department, new unemployment claims for the week ending August 15th stood at just over 1.1 million people, up 135,000 from the week before.
This data paints an unfortunately bleak picture of the US economy, where earlier expectations were predicting a figure below one million, which would have shown signs of improvement and a labour market beginning to bounce back from the devastation of the last few months.
On the contrary, the large number of new claims shows us that the US economy is still fragile, and with surges of new Covid-19 cases flaring up all over the country, the labour market is unable to rebound.
This week’s figure of 1.1 million takes the overall number of unemployment claims to over 57 million since the US economy went into lockdown back in March. Since then, the economic and social impact of Covid-19 has been relentless.
As it stands, the two major political parties are continuing to squabble over the details of a new emergency relief deal which would guarantee unemployment benefits for the millions of jobless. Not only does this mean that millions of Americans are completely without income, it also means that the wider economy is missing out on those precious dollars which would stimulate demand for all sorts of other goods and services.
THINK LIKE AN ECONOMIST!
Q1. What type of unemployment is referred to within the article?
Q2. Explain which types of jobs are most likely to have been lost during the Covid-19 crisis.
Q3. Analyse the advantages for the US government of ensuring that the unemployed are receiving monthly benefits.
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