As the United States' economy still in limbo, last week millions of out-of-work Americans also still look for assistance while the coronavirus continues to spike.
The Labor Department shared on Thursday the same numbers with the economists' initial forecasts, noting 1 million Americans filed their initial claims for unemployment benefits.
After 23 weeks, the latest surge of assistance seekers just put the numbers over 58 million Americans who filed for the aid.
The rising number of layoffs, the claims, are just some of the numerous reasons that reflect the economic struggle as Americans continue to strive and look for assistance in order to buy groceries and pay bills while staying in their homes, USA Today reported.
Senior fellow at The Century Foundation, Andrew Stettner shared in a statement th
at after six months of struggle due to the pandemic, the main issue is not the recent layoffs but the slow pace in the rehiring process for the workers.
He also added that as the rent for September will due soon and food security remains questionable, the worst is yet to come for Americans if the Congress and President Donald Trump will not focus on the relief that is needed this pandemic.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment assistance just kept seesawing as it rises and falls from time to time but the fact remains that it is historically high as it passed the previous record of 695, 000 claims requested weekly during the 1982 recession.
The sudden swings in the numbers reflect that the US economy is still shaky as businesses gradually reopen while some are laying offs but there is a lot of rehiring recently despite the spike in coronavirus cases.
After its peak in late April, a recent number of Americans diagnosed with coronavirus have flattened but the spike still continues as there are surges in infections especially in numerous states in Southern area including North and South Dakota.
Read also: CDC Alters COVID-19 Testing Guidelines, Announces Asymptomatic Cases No Longer Need Testing
Home Owners and Renters Asks for Aid
Based on the recent survey of the Mortgage Bankers Association, 3.6 million homeowners are in forbearance according to the estimation, which means their lenders have halted or reduced their mortgage payments due to their struggle in paying but it is just temporary.
A recent survey also reflects that the number of recipients of the home loans shrank slightly.
MBA's senior vice president and chief economist, Mike Fratantoni shared in a statement that the share of loans in forbearance declined for ten succeeding weeks already.
According to People, he also mentioned that the extremely high rate of initial claims for unemployment insurance together with the still high-level unemployment still remained the main concerns economically as it is just the initial indication that many households are facing a lot of challenges.
Fratantoni also stated that the pace of those who are coming out of forbearance has slowed for two weeks in a row recently.
Due to the alarming numbers, Oxford Economics shared in a note that renters are now in great trouble as the executive action mentioned by President Donald Trump is not spelled out and as of the moment, up to 15 million Americans could face eviction.
Related article: $300 Unemployment Benefit: Who Will Get It and When?
