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US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

cnbc.com

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Re: US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

#11
post #6
post #2

Is the number expected to be this high? I thought one of the core ideas of the stimulus was to prevent firing by giving small businesses a "free" loan if they retained their employees? I've been trying to find a good authority on the economics of this stimulus but it seems I am always stuck finding the same "rehashed" news articles.

The core ideas were reported upon, the real purpose is to bail out the banks (once again) and the fortune 500 companies. Very little is going to the people hardest hit.

This is false, the plan specifically targeted small businesses: https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business...

Re: US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

#14
post #6
post #2

Is the number expected to be this high? I thought one of the core ideas of the stimulus was to prevent firing by giving small businesses a "free" loan if they retained their employees? I've been trying to find a good authority on the economics of this stimulus but it seems I am always stuck finding the same "rehashed" news articles.

The core ideas were reported upon, the real purpose is to bail out the banks (once again) and the fortune 500 companies. Very little is going to the people hardest hit.

Bank bailouts don't work without oversight.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikecollins/2015/07/14/the-big-...

Re: US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

#15
post #12

Is the stock market connected to reality anymore? 16 million Americans lost their jobs in three weeks and in that time there's been a substantial rally. This can't just be short covering. What gives?

The Fed has promised to basically prop up the market for however long it takes.

Re: US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

#16
post #9

The Fed conveniently released an announcement about a new $2.3t free money program at the same time. The Fed's actions only serve to confirm what I think a lot of people already know: things are going to get really bad. It's a bit strange watching the stock market continue to pump knowing many of these companies have had their revenues drop by as much as 100%.

On the other hand, hasn't a lot of cash outflow been reduced right now too?

I feel like we're putting the economy on pause. If we can survive in this state for another 3 or so months, there's a good chance things will quickly return to normal - or at least most companies will survive and start rehiring under a new normal.

Re: US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

#17
post #2

Is the number expected to be this high? I thought one of the core ideas of the stimulus was to prevent firing by giving small businesses a "free" loan if they retained their employees? I've been trying to find a good authority on the economics of this stimulus but it seems I am always stuck finding the same "rehashed" news articles.

Yes. This is part of the United State's Main Street Lending Program, called the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The federal government is guaranteeing loans made by private banks. This is taking time to work its way thorough the banks, as they try to understand their long-term legal obligations.

In the mean time, some businesses are laying off or furloughing their employees so that their employees can get some money by claiming for unemployment benefits. Unemployment systems are established and somewhat functioning, unlike the loans, which probably need another week or two to start having an impact. Presumably, some of the workers will be recalled once loans are established.

Edit: Removed redundant word.

Re: US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

#18

we’ve now lost 10% of workforce in three weeks I’m a little surprised it’s not higher. I assumed with bars, gyms, retail, house cleaners (and not to mention wait staff at restaurants) all out of a job indefinitely that those folks made up >10% of the workforce.

It's possible that what we've found is that we can only intake around 7 million jobless claims per week. The number could be much higher, we just don't have the bandwidth to receive all the claims, so they continue to pile up.

Re: US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

#19

And yet, stocks continue their quick rebound.

LOL, what did you expect? Bernie dropped out, unemployment numbers are up, Trump fired the person responsible for managing the 2 trillion Coronavirus bailout. This is a great time for business, not so much for people.

Re: US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6M

#20

we’ve now lost 10% of workforce in three weeks I’m a little surprised it’s not higher. I assumed with bars, gyms, retail, house cleaners (and not to mention wait staff at restaurants) all out of a job indefinitely that those folks made up >10% of the workforce.

I think it will continue to raise is seems like we can only handle processing about 6.6 millions unemployment claims a week. There was a similar number last week. I know we saw it increase quickly, but that does not mean we will see it decrease quickly.
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