Georgia
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate continued to fall slowly in January, registering the ninth consecutive drop in the unemployment rate.
The state’s unemployment rate was 5.1% in January, compared to 5.3% in December.
This is still substantially above the 3.3% recorded in January, but well below the state’s historical record of 12.5% recorded in April.
A separate survey of employers’ payroll – the main indicator for economists – showed little movement.
Payrolls were stable from December to January at 4.45 million. The Georgia Department of Labor released the job numbers on Thursday.
Georgian workers continue to ask for unemployment at high levels.
More than 28,000 workers applied for initial benefits during the week of February 27.
Some Georgians continue to complain about problems receiving their benefits, prompting Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, as well as other members of the state Congressional delegation, to intervene.
On Thursday, Democratic senators joined MPs Carolyn Bourdeaux, Sanford Bishop, David Scott, Hank Johnson, Lucy McBath and Nikema Williams to ask the US Department of Labor to investigate why it is taking so long for Georgia families to receive The Benefits.
Last month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that some 180,000 Georgians were still awaiting review of their applications, and the 400,000 currently receiving benefits have suffered months of delays and frustrations.
The problems recently led some Georgia state legislators to present a bill to remove much of its authority from the state’s elected labor commissioner, Mark Butler.
South Carolina
COLOMBIA, SC – The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce said more than 5,000 people filed their first claim for unemployment insurance in the week that ended on Saturday.
The agency said it received 5,146 initial complaints, a 26% jump from the previous week.
In the week ending Saturday, the state paid nearly $ 74 million in state and federal benefits.
Throughout the year since the pandemic began, South Carolina has paid nearly $ 5.5 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits.
United States
WASHINGTON – The number of Americans seeking unemployment insurance fell last week to 712,000, the lowest total since early November, evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs amid a decline in confirmed coronavirus cases and signs of improved health. economy.
The Labor Department said jobless claims fell by 42,000 from 754,000 the week before. Although the labor market is slowly strengthening, many companies remain under pressure and 9.6 million jobs remain lost due to the pandemic that flattened the economy 12 months ago.
In February, US employers created 379,000 jobs, the largest since October, reflecting an economy in which consumers are spending more and states and cities are easing restrictions on doing business. Thursday’s number, while the lowest weekly number in four months, showed that weekly claims for unemployment benefits still remain high by historical standards: before the viral outbreak, they had never exceeded 700,000, even during the Great Recession.
In all, 4.1 million Americans are receiving traditional state unemployment benefits. Counting the federal supplementary unemployment programs that were established to mitigate the economic damage of the virus, some 20.1 million people are receiving some form of unemployment benefits.
The continuing job cuts reflect the extent to which the pandemic has disrupted normal economic activity and kept consumers squatting at home, instead of traveling, shopping, dining out and going to entertainment venues. Cities and states have restricted the hours and capacity of restaurants, bars and other businesses. Even where restrictions did not exist, many Americans for months chose to stay home to avoid the risk of infection.
Now, however, as vaccines are increasingly administered across the country, business limitations are gradually alleviated and consumers are more comfortable in relating face to face with others, optimism about the economy is increasing. Last month, consumers recovered from months of restraint to increase spending by 2.4% – the biggest increase in seven months and a sign that the economy may be ready to sustain a recovery.
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