Layoffs are back and that’s bad news for the fragile US economic recovery.
New applications for unemployment benefits hit a nine-month high last week — a spike that suggests private employers may shed jobs this month for the first time this year.
Workers are losing construction jobs in Georgia and manufacturing jobs in Indiana. Some of the layoffs are coming as stimulus money dries up and public works projects come to a halt. Government employees are also being let go as states and cities grapple with budget crises.
Without more jobs, consumers will not feel secure enough to spend much money, further slowing the economy. The grim outlook has economists lowering their estimates for growth in the second half of the year, which on Thursday led to a sell-off on Wall Street led by investors worried that the US could tumble back into recession.
“Today’s news on the economy has been nothing but awful,” Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients. “The recovery is clearly slowing.”
The Labor Department announced on Thursday that initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000 — the highest level since November and the third straight increase.
As the economy recovered from the worst downturn since the 1930s, jobless claims declined from a peak of 651,000 in March last year to a low of 427,000 last month, before rising steadily over the past six weeks. In a healthy economy, jobless claims usually drop below 400,000.
“This is obviously a disappointing number that shows ongoing weakness in the job market,” said Robert Dye, senior economist at the PNC Financial Services Group.
Dye said claims showed a similar pattern in the last two recoveries, but eventually began to fall again.
The current elevated level of claims is a sign that employers are reluctant to hire until the rebound is well under way. That’s what happened after the 1991 and 2001 recessions, which were dubbed “jobless recoveries.”
Economists caution that more than 350,000 temporary census jobs ended in recent months and those workers could be applying for benefits.
The jobless figures and a separate report showing that manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic declined this month sent stock markets tumbling. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 144 points for the day. Interest rates dropped sharply as investors flocked to the safety of Treasury bonds.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office said the deficit is on pace to exceed US$1.3 trillion for the budget year that ends in September. That would be the second-largest ever, just below the record of more than US$1.4 trillion in the last fiscal year.
Partially fueling the deficit was hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus spending intended to help lift the country out of recession, but many of the programs are now ending, taking jobs with them.
In Washington, US President Barack Obama cited the jump in jobless claims to call attention to Republicans who are opposing his proposal to help small businesses. That bill would provide up to US$30 billion in additional lending to small businesses and about US$12 billion in tax breaks to encourage hiring.
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