U.S. Unemployment Claims Increase Again, More Unemployed in RI and Rate Increases
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Nearly 900,000 workers applied for jobless benefits last week in the United States, extending recent increases in claims.
Unemployment claims rose to 885,000 from 862,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The RI Department of Labor and Training reports that the state’s unemployment rate jumped to 7.3% — an increase of two-tenths of a point over October and more than double November of 2019 when the unemployment rate was 3.5%.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMore than 90% of economists in a recent Wall Street Journal survey said they expect the rollout of coronavirus vaccines will cause hiring to accelerate in the second quarter of 2021.
“Economic data broadly point to a slowdown. Retail sales dropped 1.1% in November from a month earlier, according to a Commerce Department report Wednesday. Overall consumer spending, which includes retail and services consumption, has continued to increase, but more slowly than over the summer,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the RIDLT, "due to the unprecedented pandemic-related employment declines in March and April, nearly all employment sectors reported year-over-year declines in November." The Accommodation & Food Services (-11,600) sector led all sectors in year-over-year jobs losses, followed by the Professional & Business Services (-4,500), Health Care & Social Assistance (-4,300), Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (-3,400) and Other Services (-3,100) sectors.
Educational Services (-2,500), Retail Trade (-2,000), Government (-1,900), Transportation & Utilities (-1,600), and Wholesale Trade (-1,200) also reported sizable job declines between November 2019 and November 2020. Smaller annual declines were noted in the Information (-600), Manufacturing (-600), Construction (-300) and Financial Activities (-100) sectors.
