US Jobless Claims Rise, With 12K More Filings in New York
By Nicholas Rizzi March 4, 2021 10:35 am
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The number of unemployment claims rose last week after a huge drop the prior week, while New York saw nearly 12,000 more filings after it had one of the largest declines in the country.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending Feb. 27 totaled 745,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That number is slightly below the Dow Jones projected estimate of 750,000 claims, but it’s an increase from the revised 736,000 claims filed for the week ending Feb. 20, which was more than 100,000 lower than the week ending on Feb. 13.
New York had one of the biggest drops in claims for the week ending on Feb. 20 — with 9,117 fewer compared to the week prior — but also saw an increase last week.
The state had 59,322 workers filed for unemployment last week, 11,508 higher than the week before, according to the Labor Department. It’s also carrying one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 4.9 percent as of the week ending on Feb. 13.
New York’s increase comes after it had the third-largest drop in unemployment filings for the week ending on Feb. 20, which was 9,117 less than the week ending on Feb. 13.
Even though jobless claims increased last week, the numbers are still far below the peak of more than a million seen last year as the coronavirus pandemic upended the country’s economy. And states like California still saw some drops in their numbers last week.
California saw 2,337 fewer claims compared to the week ending on Feb. 20, where it had the largest decrease in the country with 49,138 fewer unemployment filings compared to the week ending on Feb. 13, according to the Labor Department.
The release of last week’s jobless numbers comes as the U.S. Senate could start debate on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan, which includes extending supplemental unemployment benefits.
