Jobless Claims In Line with Expectations as States Shed Extended Unemployment Benefits

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday came in in line with economists’ expectations, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“The economy is expanding rapidly now, as Covid infections go down and firms are given the OK to expand in-person activity,” Nationwide Mutual Insurance chief economist David Berson told the WSJ. “To meet that demand, firms need to hire workers.”

Jobless claims have steadily dropped throughout April, May and June, hitting multiple recent lows at exactly the same time that states announced their withdrawal from the federal expanded unemployment benefits. Roughly 13.8 million Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits nationwide, according to the report Thursday.

In addition, the U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs in June, far exceeding economists’ predictions, according to recent government data. The economy has recovered more than 3 million jobs since January.

While many Americans return to work, the U.S. continues to experience a labor shortage with job vacancies hitting all-time highs. Experts have attributed the large amount of openings to those states offering continued generous federal unemployment benefits, but liberals have said child care and lingering concerns about coronavirus are causing people to remain unemployed.

“This overzealous federal unemployment compensation has created a choking hazard in the labor market that could asphyxiate the entire economy,” wrote Samantha Fillmore, a government relations manager at the Heartland Institute. “Thankfully, many governors and state lawmakers have recognized the harmful nature of this program. Several states have announced plans to end the benefits ahead of the tentative Sept. 6 expiration date.”

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has focused on pushing massive additional spending on Democrat priorities masked as infrastructure and ‘human infrastructure‘.

“Now that the economy is back on track, we’re making progress on the second phase of our strategy: ensuring long-term growth,” the president said during remarks last week.

But, as the federal government continues pouring trillions of dollars into the economy through “relief” programs and the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet grows ever larger, consumer prices continue to hit new highs. Economists have said inflation will persist longer than previously expected.