The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits for the first time hit a 49-year low in September and it’s been dropping in Louisiana, too, according to Louisiana Workforce Commission.
Since the figure broadly reflects how many workers are being laid off, it underscores the strength of the job market and the economy. However, as USA Today reports, the share of laid-off Americans even trying to get these benefits is also the lowest on record.
Some unemployed people who don’t apply are among the nation’s growing legion of freelancers, contractors and temporary workers, many of whom either aren’t eligible or don’t think they are. Others are deterred by state cuts to benefits or state-imposed hurdles that have made it harder to apply for, and keep, benefits since the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009. Still others are baby boomers who may decide to retire early rather than seek jobless benefits.
“If it’s a problem now, when the next recession hits, the (benefits) program isn’t going to have the same kind of stimulative effect on the economy” and provide the same lifeline to jobless Americans as it did during the Great Recession, says George Wentworth, senior counsel for the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group.
In recent months, about 60% of laid-off workers have applied for jobless benefits for the first time, down from about 100% during and after the Great Recession, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics.
