Jobless Ranks Rise To Unprecedented 41 Million Americans, Though Weekly Pace Continues To Slow

The Associated Press: 41 Million Have Lost Jobs Since Virus Hit, But Layoffs Slow
Roughly 2.1 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a sign that companies are still slashing jobs in the face of a deep recession even as more businesses reopen and rehire some laid-off employees. About 41 million people have now applied for aid since the virus outbreak intensified in March, though not all of them are still unemployed. The Labor Department’s report Thursday includes a count of all the people now receiving unemployment aid: 21 million. That is a rough measure of the number of unemployed Americans. (Rugaber, 5/28)

CNN: 1 In 4 American Workers Have Filed Jobless Claims Since The Pandemic
It was the tenth-straight week in which claims were in the millions. America had never recorded a single week of 1 million jobless claims prior to the coronavirus crisis. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits for consecutive weeks rose to 21.1 million. (Tappe, 5/28)

Bloomberg: U.S. State Jobless-Benefit Rolls Post First Decline Of Pandemic
U.S. states’ jobless rolls shrank for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic in a sign people are starting to return to work, even as millions more Americans filed for unemployment benefits. (Dmitrieva, 5/28)

The Washington Post: Americans Have Filed More Than 40 Million Jobless Claims In Past 10 Weeks, As Another 2.1 Million Filed For Benefits Last Week
More Americans are vying against each other to snag a shrinking pool of jobs assisting offices, entering data and handling other responsibilities that can be predominately executed from home, offering early clues about a labor market crunch that will intensify this summer. ... The scramble for remote, socially distant employment reflects lingering fears on the part of U.S. workers about their physical and financial security as the coronavirus pandemic stretches into its third month. (Romm, 5/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Unemployment Claims Eased To 2.1 Million Last Week
A continued high level of jobless-benefit applications indicates that retailers, factories, municipal governments and other employers are laying off more workers, and that Americans out of work for weeks are managing their way through overwhelmed state systems. However, rising claims no longer necessarily means unemployment rising further because new job losses are increasingly offset by workers being recalled or otherwise finding employment. (Morath, 5/28)

In other news on the pandemic's toll on the economy and labor market —

Reuters: Exclusive: U.S. Taxpayers' Virus Relief Went To Firms That Avoided U.S. Tax
Last month Zagg Inc, a Utah-based company that makes mobile device accessories, received more than $9.4 million in cash from a U.S. government program that has provided emergency loans to millions of businesses hit by the coronavirus. The money was part of the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) — a linchpin of President Donald Trump’s economic rescue package, meant to save small firms convulsed by the pandemic and help them to keep workers on the payroll. (Bergin and Delevingne, 5/28)

The Associated Press: Huge Washington Unemployment Fraud Warning To Other States
The first word Seattle political consultant Dayna Lurie had that someone filed for unemployment benefits in her name was when her boss called. “Did you quit without telling me?” he asked. “We got an unemployment form from the state of Washington saying you don’t work here anymore.” It turned out that, like thousands of Washington state residents, Lurie’s identity was used by criminals seeking to capitalize on a flood of legitimate unemployment claims by sneaking in fraudulent ones. (Johnson, 5/27)

Bangor Daily News: Work Release Prisoners Receiving Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Is Not An Outrage
A group of 53 inmates in Maine received a total of nearly $200,000 in unemployment benefits after losing their work release jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Janet Mills ordered those payments to stop, and has called the situation “appalling” and “bad public policy.” To us it looks more like unemployed workers, who lost their jobs during widespread economic and public health upheaval, receiving unemployment benefits. (5/27)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Uneployment Call Center For Gig Workers Down Until June 1 
The Alorica call center tasked with helping gig workers file for unemployment insurance benefits is still open for business, but filers will not be able to connect with an adjudicator until Monday. The Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilition clarified that the message on its EmployNV website, where gig workers are to file for benefits, does not mean its call center for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program will be down. (Hudson, 5/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Rolls Out Program To Help Low-Income Wage-Earners Who Contract COVID-19 
San Francisco officials rolled out a program Wednesday that seeks to provide some relief to workers who contract COVID-19, but can’t afford to miss a paycheck while in self-isolation. The city’s “Right to Recover” program will provide eligible workers who have COVID-19 with two weeks of wage replacement, or $1,285, based on San Francisco’s minimum wage. The program will be funded with $2 million from the city’s Give2SF program, San Francisco’s central charitable relief fund for those impacted by the coronavirus. (Fracassa, 5/27)