WASHINGTON -- The number of laid-off workers seeking U.S. unemployment aid barely fell last week, and the reopening of small businesses has leveled off -- evidence of a stalling of the job market's gains just as a surge in coronavirus cases is endangering an economic recovery.
Last week, the number of people applying for jobless benefits declined slightly to 1.48 million, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was the 12th-straight weekly drop.
Another 730,000 people last week applied for the first time for the supplemental pandemic unemployment assistance program created by Congress for self-employed and gig workers, raising the total number of first-time claims to 2.2 million.
These figures aren't adjusted for seasonal variations, so the government doesn't include them in the official count.
Continuing claims, a closely watched figure that tracks the overall pool of recipients, declined by 767,000 to 19.5 million in the week ended June 13, down from nearly 25 million in early May.
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"There has been no real decline in weekly claims the past two weeks," said Julia Pollak, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter. "There has also been no real increase in job openings. What seemed like encouraging signs of recovery in May largely stalled in June."
COMPANIES IN A CRUNCH
The virus is once again squeezing companies across the economy.
Disney is postponing the scheduled mid-July reopening of its Southern California theme parks until it receives guidelines from the state. Macy's is cutting nearly 4,000 corporate jobs -- roughly 3% of its workforce -- in response to financial strain caused by the virus.
Apple announced late Wednesday that it would re-close seven of its stores in the Houston area, which is suffering a spike in cases. Last week, it had said that it would re-close 11 other stores in four states. And the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese restaurants will seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in part because of the restaurants it has been forced to close as a result of the pandemic.
Larry Kudlow, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, asserted Thursday on Fox Business that the economy is rebounding quickly.
"I think the strong 'V' recovery is right still there," Kudlow said, referring to the shape of a sharp rebound on a chart.
Most private economists, though, foresee a much more tepid recovery. And the latest economic figures coincide with a sudden resurgence of coronavirus cases in the United States, especially in the South and West, that is threatening to derail the nascent economic rebound. On Wednesday, the nation set a high for new confirmed coronavirus cases. Many states are establishing their own new peaks for confirmed daily infections, including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma. Cases of coronavirus also have jumped in Florida and Georgia.
The number of infections is thought to be far higher still because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest that people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
Should the trends continue, states may reimpose some limits on businesses that would likely trigger job cuts. And if not, consumers may choose to shop, eat out, and travel less.
REOPENINGS STALL
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that the state will suspend its business reopenings as infections surge.
Real-time data on small businesses suggests that the job market's improvement slowed in June compared with May, when 2.5 million jobs were unexpectedly added. About 78% of small businesses have reopened as states have lifted shutdown orders, according to data from Homebase, a company that provides scheduling and time-tracking software to small businesses. Yet nationally, that figure has been flat for the past week.
In states that are suffering spikes in virus cases, small businesses are closing again and cutting some jobs.
In Florida, Texas, and Arizona, the proportion of small businesses that have closed has risen in the past week as a result of the resurgent viral outbreaks. And in Arizona, as of Monday, the number of employees working at small companies was 31% below the pre-pandemic level. That's worse than the previous week, when it was 26.5%.
For the unemployed, the federal government has been providing $600 in weekly benefits, on top of whatever state jobless-aid recipients are receiving. This federal money has pumped nearly $20 billion a week into the economy and enabled many of the unemployed to stay afloat.
Information for this article was contributed by Christopher Rugaber of The Associated Press; by Nelson D. Schwartz of The New York Times; and by Eli Rosenberg of The Washington Post.
