California is the largest of the states in the US, and with 39 million people, she is a major source of cultural and economic power for the country. Having noted this, it is of equal interest that the current population of unemployed is now at a record 36.5 million, or almost the entire state population of California.
New filings for unemployment claims totaled just shy of 3 million for the most recent reporting period, a number that while still high declined for the sixth straight week, according to Labor Department figures Thursday.
The total 2.981 million new claims for unemployment insurance filed last week brought the coronavirus crisis total to nearly 36.5 million, by far the biggest loss in U.S. history. The count announced last week count was revised up by 7,000 to 3.176 million, putting the weekly decline at 195,000 between the two most recent reports.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting the latest count of new claims to be 2.7 million.
While the numbers have been declining since the March 28 peak, joblessness remains pervasive through the U.S. even as states continue to come back online slowly following the economic shutdown.
The Labor Department reported a loss of 20.5 million jobs in April that brought the unemployment rate to 14.7%, both post-World War II highs.
According to the latest figures, those displaced are still not being brought back to work under a freeze that was supposed to last weeks but now has extended for nearly two months. Continuing claims rose by 456,000 to a record 22.83 million, after the previous week’s total was revised down to 22.38 million.
The four-week moving average, which is used to smooth out weekly volatility, also spiked by 2.7 million to 19.76 million.
“The numbers … are still alarming of course but with more reopenings occurring in the coming months they should continue to recede,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. (source)
Keep in mind too that these numbers do not correspond to the actual population for work. For example, children cannot work and neither can the very old or sick, or the disabled.
The entire US workforce is about 165 million people.
Do the math.
This means the MINIMUM out of work population is over 22%. Keep in mind as Shoebat.com predicted and reported on once it was verified by other sources, the actual rate as of last week was about 27%.
If we consider this fact- the “uncounted” in the official unemployment count like before -we can say that it is likely the official unemployment rate in the US is about 33%, or one-third.
These numbers should greatly disturb you. One in three people is likely out of work with no idea of when they will return.
For the sake of all that is good, for those who have the money and some ability to help others, please, consider this summer a time of great work and preparation because as we predict, COVID-19 will revive in the fall, it will be worse, and there are going to be a LOT of people out of work with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Yes, I speak of higher unemployment rates.
My prediction- expect to see unemployment rates reach possibly as high as 50%. I hope I am wrong too, because each percent increase is countless more lives destroyed.