Jobless claims: 11 million Americans unemployed
Over 11 million Americans are unemployed, according to a jobless claims report released Wednesday, offering a dire view of the state of the job market and of the economy as a whole.
New jobless numbers offer a dire view of the state of the job market and of the economy as a whole.
Source: US Department of Labor, SoldAtTheTop
聽showed another significant surprise jump in initial claims bending the trend somewhat and throwing into question what would otherwise look like a nearly textbook peak.
Seasonally adjusted 鈥渋nitial鈥� unemployment claims jumped by 22,000 to 496,000 claims from last week鈥檚 revised 474,000 claims while 鈥渃ontinued鈥� claims increased by 6,000 resulting in an 鈥渋nsured鈥� unemployment rate of 3.5%.
It's important to note that at nearly 500K claims, initial claims is at the highest level seen since November 2009 and taken together with the federal extended claims data, offers a dire view of the state of the job market and of the economy as a whole.
Since the middle of 2008 though, two federal government sponsored 鈥渆xtended鈥� unemployment benefit programs (the 鈥渆xtended benefits鈥� and 鈥淓UC 2008鈥� from recent legislation) have been picking up claimants that have fallen off of the traditional unemployment benefits rolls.
Currently there are some 5.6 million people receiving federal 鈥渆xtended鈥� unemployment benefits.
Taken together with the latest 5.6 million people that are currently counted as receiving traditional continued unemployment benefits, there are well over 11 million people on state and federal unemployment rolls.
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