The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week, reflecting both continued reporting problems in California and private-sector employees out of work in connection with the government shutdown.
"Initial claims for unemployment compensation increased by 66,000 to a seasonally adjusted 374,000 in the week ended Oct. 5, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists expected 312,000 new claims would be filed. The weekly gain is the largest in nearly a year and pushes claims to the highest level since March.
About half of the increase came from California, which is working through a conversion to a new computer system, a Labor analyst said. Last month, California underreported claims for two weeks.
About 15,000 of the new claims filed were from nonfederal workers who were out of work because of the shutdown, the analyst said.
"Several states indicated that they were seeing some of that activity," he said.
The data only reflect those seeking aid from state programs. While federal workers apply through states, they are paid from separate funds. Figures showing those shutdown-related applications will first be released next Thursday.
Figures from local officials, however, indicate federal employees are filing in droves. The District of Columbia has received more than 11,000 applications from federal workers in the first seven days that they could apply for benefits, a spokeswoman said. That is nearly ten times the number of federal claims filed nationwide the week before the shutdown. The District of Columbia, Maryland and West Virginia have all increased staffing or paid overtime to keep up with the federal claims".
Source: The Wall Street Journal
