New jobless claims unexpectedly edged up to 373,000 for the week ending July 3, missing forecasts that anticipated another decline, according to the July 8 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The previous week’s level of 364,000 filings was revised upward by 7,000 to 371,000.
The total number of continued weeks claimed for the week ending June 19 was 14,209,007, a 449,642 drop from the previous week. In the comparable week last year, there were 33,228,122 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs.
Extended benefits were available in 11 states during the week ending June 19 — Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Texas.
A Wall Street Journal survey of economists estimated that initial jobless claims would drop to 350,000 for the week ended July 3. Initial claims remain nearly twice the number of the 200,000 levels before COVID-19 took hold in the U.S.
“Employment is still on a strong upward trajectory,” Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, told the WSJ. “Demand for labor is very strong.”
Daco told the news outlet that child care and virus fears are still concerning issues, which are some of the main reasons some people are running to job openings.
“This has been a recession like no other with the record levels of job openings calling into question the claims of Washington policy officials that additional stimulus is still needed to aid the recovery,” Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBonds, told Yahoo Finance. “We are faced with two conflicting data sources one that says millions are unemployed and still out of work from the recession and the other saying job openings are in the millions, record levels which we ordinarily only see when the economy is experiencing a boom.”
The hard-hit restaurant industry is now suffering from a shortage of workers as lockdowns lift and eateries open at full capacity. The shortage is being eased by developments in artificial intelligence and robotics.
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