California jobless claims jump, now top 8 million during shutdowns

Unemployment claims are rising again in California, increasing two weeks in a row and ending a long stretch of improvement as the state’s economy continues to feel the effects of the coronavirus.

Since business shutdowns imposed by state and local government officials began in mid-March, 8.13 million California workers have filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

California workers filed 236,900 initial jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 29, an increase of 40,000 from 196,900 claims filed for the previous week ending Aug. 22, new data released Thursday shows.

Nationwide, the number of unemployment claims decreased sharply to 881,000 for week ending Aug. 29, falling 130,000 from the prior week.

While still far higher than is typical, unemployment claims in the U.S. are at their lowest level since the business shutdowns began around March 14.

California’s unemployment claims last week rose to their highest levels in more than a month.

The 236,900 claims filed during the week that ended Aug. 29 is the highest since 244,700 initial unemployment claims were filed by California workers in the week ending July 25.

Source: Orange County Register