Milions of unemployed workers in U.S seek government benefits to make ends meet

On the wake of the rising cases of coronavirus in U.S around 1.3 million people have filed for the unemployement aid to make ends meet. The program which is a brainchild of the U.S was conceived in late March with aim to provide temporary benefits amidst the COVID 19 scare. The scheme benefits workers who typically aren't eligible for payments, including freelancers, independent contractors,and self employed individuals affected by the outbreak.  The numbers however have witnessed a slight decrease from the week before according to data released Thursday by the Department of Labor. Meanwhile, in the last four weeks the numbers have averaged about 1.4 million since the beginning of the pandemic.

Moreover, the figures  for the first few days of July have hit the peak due to the rising number of cases in the country. Weekly jobless claims have been falling for more than three months since their peak in the last week of March. Continued claims, which count workers who have filed claims for at least two weeks in a row, stood at 18.1 million. Meanwhile, nearly 14.4 million people claimed continued pandemic benefits across 47 states. 

The unemployment rate, which is calculated separately from the weekly jobless claims, has trended downward the last two months, to 11.1 percent last month, as many laid off or furloughed workers in industries like food service and retail were called back to work. However, In light of the recent spike in coronavirus cases in mostly southern states, economists are warning that much of the joblessness could become permanent. The United States’ coronavirus cases crossed the 3 million mark on Wednesday, reporting 3,009,611 cases so far and 131,514 deaths, going by the John Hopkins University data.