Weekly Jobless Claims Top 850,000 as Cities & Governors Lockdown

Strict Covid-19 lockdown measures have pushed unemployment applications to 853,000, up from the 716,000 posted last week.

Posted On: December 10, 2020

By Gabriel Nix | The Enfield

Strict Covid-19 lockdown measures have pushed unemployment applications to 853,000, up from the 716,000 posted last week.

The new figure reported by the Labor Department is the highest since September. Jobless claims were typically 225,000 in March prior to coronavirus lockdown measures.

The surge in unemployment claims are likely a result of strict lockdown measures issued by state Governors and Mayors.

Many employers cut jobs in November with restaurants, bars, and retailers leading the pack.

New applications for unemployment aid has jumped more than 47,000 in California alone as the state Governor, Gavin Newsom, recently added additional restrictions on business activity in the state.

The lockdowns are threatening to derail economic recovery with many republicans fearing the strict measures will ultimately leave more people dependent on the government.

Currently, there are over 5.8 million people receiving state unemployment aid while a total of 19 million are receiving unemployment related benefits of some kind from both federal government and state governments.

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