California unemployment claims jump to 61,000
California workers filed more initial claims for unemployment last week compared to the week before, a dreary indicator that the state continues to struggle to recover from coronavirus-linked maladies.
Workers statewide filed 61,464 first-time jobless claims during the week that ended on Nov. 13, an increase of 6,431 from the 55,033 claims that were filed in the week ending on Nov. 6, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
The increase in statewide unemployment claims ended three consecutive weeks of decreases.
But North Bay initial filings have continued a downward trend since spring, nearing pre-pandemic levels by late October, based on the latest state data.
Last week, 598 new claims were submitted in Sonoma County, up from 555 the week ending Oct. 30, the lowest point since the pandemic economic lockdowns in mid-March 2020, when initial filings were 536, according to the Employment Development Department.
Solano County new claims last week were down to 698 from 762 the previous week and in line with the county’s pandemic low of 696 the week ending Oct. 23. Initial filings numbered 645 the week ending March 14, 2020.
Claims peaked at 17,040 and 12,702 for Sonoma and Solano, respectively, in second week of the shutdown, the one ending March 28, 2020.
Nationwide, workers filed 268,000 initial jobless claims last week, a decrease of 1,000 from 269,000 that were filed the week before, the Labor Department reported. These numbers are adjusted for seasonal volatility.
The unemployment claims in California remain greatly elevated from the weekly filings that are typical for a healthy economy.
During January 2020 and February 2020, the final two months before government-mandated business shutdowns to combat the coronavirus began, jobless claims averaged 44,800 a week in California.
The initial unemployment claims filed last week in California are 37% higher than what they were just prior to the start of the coronavirus-linked lockdowns, this news organization's analysis of the filings shows.
North Bay Business Journal contributed to this report.