Unemployment Claims Have The Largest Increase Since March 2020
Initial Claims Jumped by 181,000. That's the largest increase since the massive surge of 3.6 million on March 28, 2020.
Initial Claims Trend Turns Up
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Initial claims bottomed at 711,000 on November 7, 2020, and have been rising in a choppy fashion since then.
Continued Claims
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Continued claims lag initial claims by a week. Continued claims appear to have bottomed and likely have.
A number of people dropped off the rolls because they expired all of their weekly benefits.
Although Congress extended emergency benefits such as PUA and PEUC, those programs expired for a short while. Numbers for those programs are even more distorted so I will wait for a bit to comment.
Jobs Recovery Has Gone Into Reverse
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Last Friday I noted Jobs Decline for the First Time in 8 Months
Today's unemployment claims number strengthen the idea the jobs recovery has stalled.
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