Media Continues to Misreport Unemployment: 31.8 Million People on State & Federal Unemployment......

[marmar]

Media Continues to Misreport Unemployment: 31.8 Million People on State & Federal Unemployment Insurance. Week 18 of U.S. Labor Market Collapse
by Wolf Richter • Jul 23, 2020 •

I get tired of reporters or bots who don’t read beyond the 2nd paragraph of Labor Department press releases. 2.35 million initial state and federal unemployment claims. PUA claims (gig workers) now 41% of total unemployment. 20% of labor force on unemployment insurance.
By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.


It just doesn’t let up. An astounding number of newly laid-off workers keeps filing for unemployment benefits week after week and pile on top of the people already unemployed. And the number of people who started working again isn’t big enough to make a visible dent in the curve.

In the week ended July 18, the total number of people who continued to claim unemployment compensation under all state and federal unemployment insurance programs, including gig workers and contract workers, edged down to 31.8 million (not seasonally adjusted), as reported by the Department of Labor this morning. It was the third highest level ever and just a tad off the peak:



Unabated lazy misreporting in the media.

If you read this morning or heard on the radio that 16.2 million people were claiming unemployment insurance – the “continued claims” – and you thought that there were only 16.2 million people who claimed unemployment benefits, you fell victim to lazy misreporting in the media, by reporters or bots that didn’t read the Labor Department’s press release beyond the second paragraph.

Those 16.2 million were only the claims under state programs, and do not include the claims under federal programs. All combined, there were 31.8 million people on the unemployment rolls. That’s what the Labor Department reported further down in the press release.

There is a huge difference between 16.2 million and 31.8 million unemployed people! ...............(more)

https://wolfstreet.com/2020/07/23/media-continues-to-misreport-unemployment-claims-31-8-million-people-on-state-federal-unemployment-insurance-week-18-of-u-s-labor-market-collapse/

[House of Roberts]

1. Are the numbers double counting people

who receive both?

[marmar]

2. I'm guessing that most of the gig workers are only eligible for federal benefits.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Here in Nevada

the number of "GiG"workers filing were 120k. And what the real number is,no one knows. Out of the 120,only 70k received PUA because of a major glitch in the State Computer System which it seems no one knows how to fix.

Forty Million Dollar System purchased by the previous Administration from a Politically connected friend. Just what the hell could go wrong I ask.

[progree]

7. I think your guess is right. The whole purpose of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program

(PUA) was to cover workers not eligible for state unemployment benefits such as gig and self-employed contract workers.

[lostnfound]

3. In airline industry, tens of thousands will "retire early" and won't be counted.

Can’t file for unemployment if you opt to “retire in lieu of RIF”

[progree]

4. You won't be counted as unemployed either, in the BLS's official headline unemployment rate

in the jobs report that comes out the first Friday of the month, usually. The last one: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142528426

To be counted as unemployed in that report (which produces the headline official unemployment rate), you have to tell the surveyor that you looked for work in the past 4 weeks, and are willing and ready to accept a job, and I forget what else.

And the "looked for work" has to be more than looking at want ads. Must be an activity like sending out resumes, filling out job applications, and so on.

[progree]

5. Thx for the OP. I keep making that point too -- twice (now thrice) in this LBN thread:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2544357

All Unemployed People Matter