Coronavirus: California unemployment claims jump, now top 8 million during shutdowns

Since business shutdowns imposed by state and local government officials began in mid-March, a stunning 8.13 million California workers have filed initial claims for unemployment benefits.

Unemployment claims are rising again in California, increasing for two weeks in a row and ending a long stretch of improvement, an unsettling indicator that the statewide economy has yet to heal from the effects of the coronavirus.

Since business shutdowns imposed by state and local government officials began in mid-March, a stunning 8.13 million California workers have filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, reports filed by the U.S. Labor Department show.

Initial jobless claims filed by California workers totaled 236,900 for the week that ended on Aug. 29, an increase of 40,000 from 196,900 claims that were filed for the week that ended on Aug. 22, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Nationwide, the number of unemployment claims decreased sharply, totaling 881,000 during the week ending on Aug. 29, and falling 130,000 from the prior week.

While still far higher than is typical, the number of unemployment claims in the United States are at their lowest level since the business shutdowns began around the week of March 14.

In grim contrast, California unemployment claims last week rose to their highest levels in more than a month.

The 236,900 claims filed during the week that ended on Aug. 29 is the highest since 244,700 initial unemployment claims were filed by California workers in the week ending on July 25, this news organization’s compilation of the Labor Department statistics shows.