Last week, the number of US citizens enjoying the unemployment assistance benefit fell to 310,000, a considerable low during a pandemic season and a clear sign that the increase in COVID-19 infections due to the Delta variant still has not generated massive layoffs.
In the Labor Department report on Thursday, it was shown that there was a decline in jobless claims, reaching a total of 345,000 the previous week. The number of applications has fallen steadily and considerably since it topped 900,000 in early January. This shows the reopening of the economy after the recession.
However, the spread of Delta has put pressure on the population, the economy, and the job market during the summer. The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that the nation’s economic activity slowed sharply in July and August due to the employee shortfall and the decrease in travel and tourism due to the Delta variant.
Read More: CDC Latest Study: Unvaccinated Are 29x More Likely to Be Infected With Covid-19.
Some vaccine providers and Indiana officials are gearing up for the launch of Pfizer-brand booster vaccines.
The drop in the application for unemployment benefits (around 6 figures in recent weeks) shows that almost all companies value and hold on to the presence of their workers despite the slowdown. This trend can help enormously maintain a stable economy despite the wave of infections and contagions of the Delta variant.
Despite this, the hiring pace has weakened for now. A week ago, the government declared that hiring dropped dramatically in August, with employers only adding 235,000 jobs after reaching approximately one million in July. In this sense, hiring has declined dramatically in industries that require face-to-face contact with people, especially restaurants, hotels, and retail stores. Despite this reality, some jobs were added in other areas, and the unemployment rate fell 5.2% from 5.4%.
Read More: US President Joe Biden Demands All Federal Workers Receive COVID-19 Vaccine.
The steady decline in weekly claims for unemployment benefits coincides with the decline in aid for Americans out of work. Thanks to this policy, around 8 million people have lost the benefits they enjoyed with the expiration of federal programs responsible for covering concert workers and people who have been unemployed for more than six months. Those emergency programs were created in March 2020, with the beginning of the global quarantine state.
Final words
The limits are not yet reflected in the weekly unemployment claim report. The data provided in the report on the emergency programs is delayed for two weeks.