Tag: unemployment

New US jobless claims plunged 92,000 last week: govt

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Americans filed 92,000 fewer applications for unemployment aid last week, the government reported Thursday, in the latest sign the widespread job losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic was ebbing as businesses reopen. The Labor Department data showed there were 498,000 initial claims for jobless benefits made in the week ended May 1, seasonally adjusted, far fewer than expected and a new low since the pandemic began in March 2020 and […]

UK unemployment dips to 4.9%: official data

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.9 percent in the three months to the end of February, remaining close to multi-year highs on fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed Tuesday, The rate compared with 5.0 percent in the three months to the end of January, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. “The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.9 percent, 0.9 percentage points higher than a […]

World lost equivalent of 255 million jobs in 2020: UN

  by Nina LARSON Agence France Presse The coronavirus pandemic took a huge toll on global jobs last year, the United Nations said Monday, with the equivalent of more than a quarter of a billion lost. In a fresh study, the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) found that a full 8.8 percent of global working hours were lost in 2020, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. That is equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs, […]

Painful 2020 ends for US workers and layoffs could rise again

by Chris Stein and Heather Scott WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Despite a drop in weekly jobless claims, the US economy is far from healed after a year in which tens of millions of people lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, many of whom remain out of work. New filings for unemployment benefits last week dropped below 800,000 for the first time in a month, the Labor Department reported Thursday, but experts say […]

Jobless to get weekly aid despite Trump’s last-minute approval, US says

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Jobless Americans who risked not receiving unemployment aid this week due to President Donald Trump’s delay in signing off on it will indeed receive the money, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. Congress in March expanded the US unemployment safety net as the coronavirus pandemic struck, creating the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) for freelancers and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) for the long-term unemployed but only funding them until […]

Surge in US jobless claims underscores need for stimulus

by Heather SCOTT WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — New applications for US unemployment benefits surged last week by 137,000, according to government data released Thursday, underscoring the need for more economic stimulus as Covid-19 cases hit new peaks. The gain was far higher than economists had been expecting and ramps up pressure on US lawmakers to break the impasse on a new federal relief package to help families and businesses hit by the pandemic. With […]

New US jobless claims at 778,000, second week of increase

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — New applications for jobless aid in the United States saw their second back-to-back weekly increase, according to government data released Wednesday, raising concerns that a renewed economic downturn is beginning. The Labor Department said 778,000 seasonally adjusted initial claims were filed in the week ended November 21, more than analysts had forecasted and an increase of 30,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure. The increase was the first consecutive […]

Australia’s unemployment rate ticks up to 6.9%

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.9 percent in September, as the coronavirus kept the brakes on hopes of a speedy economic recovery. The country’s statistical agency said Thursday that unemployment grew 0.1 percent from 6.8 percent in August, with around 20,000 more people leaving the workforce entirely. Australia — with a population of 25 million — is experiencing its first recession in almost 30 years. The latest unemployment figures were […]

UK unemployment jumps to 4.5% on virus fallout

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s unemployment rate has jumped to 4.5 percent as the coronavirus pandemic continues to destroy jobs, official data showed on Tuesday. The reading for the June-August period compared with an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent for May to July, the Office for National Statistic said in a statement. Early estimates for September meanwhile “suggest that there is little change in the number of payroll employees in the UK; up 20,000 […]

Philippine Airlines to slash jobs as virus curbs bite

  MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Philippine Airlines will cut around a third of its workforce by the end of this year as part of an overhaul triggered by crippling coronavirus travel restrictions. The pandemic has devastated the global aviation industry, forcing airlines to seek government bailouts, furlough workers and slash jobs. “The collapse in travel demand and persistent travel restrictions on most global and domestic routes have made retrenchment inevitable,” the airline said Monday, announcing […]

New US jobless claims fall to 837,000: government

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — New jobless claim filings in the United States fell to 837,000 last week seasonally adjusted, the Labor Department said Thursday, resuming their downward trajectory after increasing slightly earlier in the month. Initial claims fell by 36,000 over the previous week’s level, however the number of people filing under Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program for workers who aren’t normally eligible rose by more than 34,000 to 650,120. The data is also […]

UK facing one million job cuts in 2020 due to virus: study

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Coronavirus could potentially cost one million jobs in Britain this year, with most losses anticipated during the current third quarter, according to a study published on Monday. Job losses could hit 450,000 between July and September, the Institute for Employment Studies forecast in a report, warning this could worsen to 690,000 positions under a worst-case scenario. Another 200,000 cuts could follow in the fourth quarter, or three months to December, […]