The Labor Department released its weekly unemployment figures on Thursday. It showed that another 268,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending on November 13th. It marks the sixth week in a row that the number has slightly decreased . That's a good thing.
But we need to remember that the number of employed workers is still over 4 million less than it was before the recession began (and the pandemic starting taking hold of the country).
Much of that is due to parents with children (especially single parents) being unable to find or afford decent child care. Some is also due to workers refusing to take a low-wage job that will keep them in poverty.
There are fixes to both problems. Passing the Build Back Better Bill would solve the child care problem, and raising the minimum wage significantly would make current job openings more attractive.
Here is the official statement from the Labor Department:
In the week ending November 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 268,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 267,000 to 269,000. The 4-week moving average was 272,750, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 278,000 to 278,500.