Jobless claims hit record high amid COVID-19 precautions

Unemployment claims spiked more than 1,000% since last Thursday, as the Labor Department released one of its first reports looking at numbers since social distancing and remote work have taken hold of the American workforce.

Today’s numbers shadow jobless claims from the Great Recession’s peak of 665,000 in March 2009 and have even shattered the all-time mark of 695,000 in October 1982. The previous week’s reporting had been adjusted to 282,000, but before the true impacts of the coronavirus had been felt.

Although jobless claims did mark the highest on record, stock markets remained optimistic as some experts noted the unemployment numbers could hold a silver lining in a rebirth of the talent market.

“The world of talent management has overnight been given an opportunity to reinvent itself and move away from practices that help the HR function and shift IMMEDIATELY to functions that help the business and the workers,” Jason Averbook, co-founder and CEO of Leapgen and columnist for HRE noted on Twitter.

“This explosion of first-time claims for unemployment benefits, topping 3 million, demonstrates the toll unprecedented efforts to contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak take on the job market,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, noted on Twitter. “While the record number of claims is shocking, it is not totally surprising.”

- Advertisement -

Also see 8 benefits employers should zero in on during the COVID-19 pandemic

“Combating this disease has forced our country to put huge parts of national life on pause and triggered layoffs at a breathtaking pace,” McConnell said.

- Advertisement -

In other efforts to stem the impacts of the virus on the economy, lawmakers earlier passed the Families First Act, providing paid leave and expanding unemployment benefits, among other provisions.

Avatar photo
Nick Otto
Nick Otto is HRE’s former senior digital editor. He is a professional communicator with more than a decade of demonstrated accomplishments in newspaper and trade publishing. He has spent the past five years covering the employee benefits space and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida.