By guest authors Ben Casselman and Nelson D. Schwartz from New York Times
More timely data, also released by the Labour Department on Thursday, July 2, 2020, morning, showed that 1.4 million Americans filed new claims for state unemployment benefits last week, and more than 800000 filed for benefits under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.threatened by the recent spike in virus cases
U.S. payrolls grew by 4.8 million in June, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the second month of gains after a loss of more than 20 million in April, when the pandemic put a large swath of economic activity on ice.
The unemployment rate fell to 11.1 % down from a peak of 14.7 % in April but still higher than in any previous period since World War II. The rate would have been about one percentage point higher had it not been for persistent data-collection problems, the Labour Department said.
There were still nearly 15 million fewer jobs in June than in February, before the pandemic forced businesses to close.
And the survey was compiled in mid-June, before coronavirus cases began to spike in Arizona, Florida and several other states.
More timely data, also released by the Labour Department on Thursday morning, showed that 1.4 million Americans filed new claims for state unemployment benefits last week, and more than 800000 filed for benefits under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance programme.
Economists fear that layoffs could accelerate now that California, Texas and other states have begun ordering some businesses to close anew.
“The virus drives the economics,” said Betsey Stevenson, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama who is now at the University of Michigan. If cases continue to rise as health officials warn, she said, “we’re not going to have people going back to work. In fact, we’re going to see more people staying home.”
President Trump called the report “spectacular” at a news conference an hour after the numbers were released.