Nine months after the health and economic crisis began, unemployment claims near record high

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/01/unemployment-benefits-near-record-high-almost-9-months-later.html

 

The number of Americans collecting and applying for unemployment benefits is hovering near pre-pandemic records. By some measures, the figure still exceeds any historical precedent.

The volume reflects deep and sustained pain for workers, nearly nine months after the health and economic crisis began.

“The numbers we’re looking at now are [far higher than] anything we’ve seen before,” said Erica Groshen, a labor economist at Cornell University and former commissioner of the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. “We’ve never seen a shock like this.”