California is seeing an increase in unemployment. At the same time we have a shortage of teachers, nurses, doctors, truck drivers and more Yet, thanks to Newsom and his mandates thousands, if not tens of thousands of workers in professions where we have shortage of workers, will now be fired.
“California workers filed a big increase in first-time unemployment claims last week, another hint that the state’s economy has yet to recuperate from coronavirus-spawned ailments.
Workers statewide filed about 86,800 initial claims for unemployment benefits during the week ending Sept. 25, an increase of 18,000 from the prior week, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.
The sharp increase in unemployment claims creates uncertainty about the pace of California’s recovery from the mammoth job losses the state suffered last year during government-ordered business shutdowns to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
LAUSD has over 2,000 unfilled positions, today. But thy will fir 1-3,000 teachers and workers by the end of the month—for the crime of wanting good health and to live in a free society.
COVID jobs: California unemployment claims soar to highest total in half a year
Jobless claims in California are now nearly double the normal level
By George Avalos, Bay Area News Group, 9/30/21
California workers filed a big increase in first-time unemployment claims last week, another hint that the state’s economy has yet to recuperate from coronavirus-spawned ailments.
Workers statewide filed about 86,800 initial claims for unemployment benefits during the week ending Sept. 25, an increase of 18,000 from the prior week, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.
The sharp increase in unemployment claims creates uncertainty about the pace of California’s recovery from the mammoth job losses the state suffered last year during government-ordered business shutdowns to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
“The new unemployment report confirms what employers and workforce professionals are reporting — that the employment recovery is slower than projected in California,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris and a former director of the state Employment Development Department.
California has recovered 62.1% of the 2.71 million jobs the state lost during March 2020 and April 2020, which marked the outset of widespread business lockdowns.
This means a daunting task confronts the statewide economy. California must gain another 1.03 million jobs just to recover the positions lost during the early stages of the business shutdowns.
“Workers are slow to return, especially for direct service retail and hospitality jobs,” Bernick said.
Nationwide, workers filed 362,000 first-time jobless claims last week, an increase of 11,000 from the prior week. The U.S. numbers were adjusted for seasonal variations.
The job market in California likely won’t be able to fully return to the record-high levels of activity the state enjoyed in February 2020 until employers are able to recruit workers in big numbers, experts say.
“Employers and workforce professionals continue to report a shortage of job seekers,” Bernick said. “But this shortage is near entirely for the lower level lower-paid direct-service retail and hospitality jobs.”
Westfield Valley Fair retailers this week conducted a job fair that the mall proclaimed successful, even though workers didn’t crowd into the San Jose shopping center in numbers that were typical in past years when the economy was healthy.
“It was a great success, a great step forward,” said Kate Diefenderfer, marketing director at Valley Fair. She noted, though, that in the past, “hundreds of people” have flocked to prior job fairs at the shopping center.
Diefenderfer said this week’s event was far more productive than an August job fair at the mall.
“We saw a lot more purposeful people, people with intent, people who brought their resumes this week,” Diefenderfer said. “In August, people were just inquiring.”
An estimated 40 retailers from the mall participated in the job fair on Wednesday of this week.
“About 35 people were hired on the spot,” Diefenderfer said. Another 35 or more are slated to be hired at Valley Fair once they complete the employment process.
All told, the participating retailers each reporting hiring at least one to two people, according to Diefenderfer.
“Many of our retailers are small businesses, so one to two people can make a big difference,” Diefenderfer said. “That is a huge impact for them.”
California’s pace of unemployment claims is so elevated that last week’s total of 86,800 initial claims was 94% higher than what would be expected in a normal economy. During January and February of 2020, the final two months before business shutdowns began, unemployment claims averaged 44,800 a week statewide.
The state last week accounted for a jaw-dropping 29.1% of all jobless claims filed in the United States — even though California represents only 11.7% of the nationwide labor force.
EDD officials explain that some of the increase in claims is tied to a short-term move of some jobless workers to a different pot of government money that enables them to continue collecting benefits for a short time beyond the Sept. 4 cut-off of an extra $300 a week paid by a federal program that’s now expired.
Some workers were moved to a program called FED-ED, which allowed benefit payments to continue until Sept. 11, according to EDD officials. However, since that date has passed, the big jump in unemployment claims might be tied to more fundamental weaknesses in the California economy.
Experts believe California’s job market could begin to show consistently strong gains during 2022. But it’s still unclear how brisk hiring might be.
“It is likely that workers, at all levels, will be returning in greater numbers in the next months,” Bernick said. “We just don’t know now how many.”
