Despite Initial Claims Drop, Almost 16 Million Americans Remain On Government Dole

Initial Jobless Claims tumbled (positively) to their lowest since the pandemic lockdowns began, adding just 406k Americans last week (well below the 425k expected). This is still double the pre-pandemic norms…

Source: Bloomberg

And despite the ongoing trend of improvement, there are still just under 16 million Americans on some form of government dole…

Source: Bloomberg

Bear in mind that while Congress extended Pandemic Emergency unemployment benefits through September 6th, at least 21 states cancelled the benefits…

At least 21 states are going to end the emergency unemployment benefits before the September 6th deadline.

The map shows many of the end dates.

3.5 million people will come off benefits in the next couple months.

(h/t) @GregDaco

Article: https://t.co/AvVuQqDNZk pic.twitter.com/vwfVm9YIYP

— UPFINA (@UPFINAcom) May 25, 2021

All eyes will be on the next jobs report for sure. It’s on Friday, June 4.