Unemployment assistance claims rise by nearly 900,000 in a week and companies still project new layoffs

By Lucy Bayly - NBC News

Last week, 884,000 new applications for unemployment help were added, according to data from the Labor Department, compared to economists' projections that estimated them at about 850,000.

They thus increased from 881,000 to 884,000 in one week but below the 1.01 million of the previous week;

In any case, this drop was due in part to a change in the methodology used to tabulate the weekly seasonally adjusted figures.

[Nine million people have not received an economic stimulus check for COVID-19.

They still have a chance]

Six months after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the weekly total is still more than four times the pre-pandemic levels.

Weekly jobless claims hit an all-time high in March, rising to nearly 7 million when the pandemic forced the closure of businesses, stores and restaurants to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

As the economy reopens, the number of people filing jobless claims has slowly and hesitantly declined, while a resurgence in infection rates has moderated any continued decline.  

More than 3 million people will receive an additional $ 900 unemployment assistance in California

Sept.

10, 202000: 25

[Unemployment assistance claims fall to their lowest level in the pandemic but nearly 900,000 people lost their jobs in one week]

As lawmakers continue to debate in Washington about the possibility that additional unemployment benefits deter applicants from returning to the workforce, many people are simply discovering that the jobs they held no longer exist.

About 22 million people have lost their jobs since the coronavirus hit, and so far only half of those jobs have been reinstated.

Even for businesses that have reopened, foot traffic (and staffing) are still well below pre-pandemic levels as many customers continue to shop online for fear of contracting the virus.

While many restaurants are required to operate at just 25 percent of their capacity to maintain social distancing, business owners have yet to call most of their employees who were laid off by the virus.

Urban areas of the US with high Latino populations are among the hardest hit by unemployment

Sept.

3, 202001: 04

Additionally,

to help children navigate the new educational environment.  

"Businesses continue to experience difficulties in obtaining the necessary workforce, an issue exacerbated by the availability of childcare facilities, as well as uncertainty about the upcoming school year," the Federal Reserve noted in its most recent report on the state of the economy. .

[Federal Government Approves $ 300 Extra Unemployment Assistance in 30 States]

A semester after the pandemic hit,

, with nearly half of companies that have already announced licenses or layoffs say they hope to make further adjustments. in the next 12 months, according to a recent survey by Randstad RiseSmart, an outsourcing company.

"The 'V-shaped' recovery is a mirage," Nick Mazing, research director at data provider Sentieo, told NBC News,

seeing 

.