Labor Sec. Scalia on over 40M unemployment claims amid coronavirus pandemic
Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia joins Sandra Smith on ‘America’s Newsroom.’
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Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said on Friday that due to the drop in the number of unemployment claims as states reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, the administration believes the country is "turning the corner" in terms of restoring the economy.
“2.1 million people filed for unemployment last week across the states and more than 40 million since the pandemic resulted in the shutdowns. That said, we’re turning a corner,” Scalia told "America's Newsroom."
Scalia said that last week, for the first time since February, the number of continuing claims for unemployment declined.
“And that decline might have been as much as 3.9 million, so, that’s very good science. What we want to see as we reopen, our businesses, our economy, and as we go about doing that safely,” Scalia said.
More than 2.1 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic, and the ensuing economic lockdown continued to wreak havoc on the jobs market.
Economists surveyed by Refinitiv had forecast 2.1 million.
The new report, which covers the week ending May 23, pushes the 10-week total of losses since states directed residents to stay at home and forced nonessential businesses to close to 40 million, a rate of unemployment unseen since the Great Depression.
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Still, although the number of workers seeking assistance remains significantly higher than it did before the coronavirus lockdown began – it's the 10th straight week that layoffs were counted in the millions – it's the lowest amount of jobless claims since the week ended March 15.
It marks the eighth week in a row of declining jobless claims since the peak of 6.9 million the week ended March 25. Last week's total was revised up by 8,000 to 2.44 million.
Continuing claims, or Americans who have been receiving benefits for at least two weeks, dropped to 21.05 million, down about 3.86 million from the previous week's total — a sign that some Americans are starting to return to work.
The four-week moving average was 22.7 million, an increase of 760,250 from the previous week.
Scalia said that prior to the pandemic there was a dynamic economy due to tax cuts, policies, eliminating unnecessary regulatory burdens that the president put into place.
“Those principals are going to be important as we go forward,” Scalia said.
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“Now, I think, people are eager to get back to work. And, again, to do that in a safe way. We’re very focused at the Labor Department to help make that happen,” Scalia said.
Fox News' Megan Henney contributed to this report.
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