U.S. layoffs remain elevated as weak demand persists after businesses reopened – By Lucia Mutikani (Reuters) / June 25 2020
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Weak demand is forcing U.S. employers to lay off workers, keeping new applications for unemployment benefits extraordinarily high, even as businesses have reopened, buttressing views the labor market could take years to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
FILE PHOTO: People line up outside a Kentucky Career Center hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claim in Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S. June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston
A resurgence in confirmed coronavirus cases across the country, linked to the reopening of businesses, is also dimming the outlook. Roughly 29 million people were collecting unemployment checks at the end of May.
The Labor Department’s weekly jobless claims report on Thursday, the most timely data on the economy’s health, is unlikely to show a big improvement, more than a month after many businesses resumed operation after closing in mid-March in an effort slow the spread of the respiratory illness.
Companies are hiring, but others are cutting jobs at nearly the same pace. The economy slipped into recession in February.
Continue to article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy/u-s-layoffs-remain-elevated-as-weak-demand-persists-after-businesses-reopened-idUSKBN23W0GA
