by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Gig workers now over 1/3 of “insured unemployed.” Gut-wrenching 1.6 million people got laid off in a week, others got their jobs back.
To determine if the collapse of the US labor market hit bottom, the combined number of people still receiving unemployment benefits under state programs and under federal programs – such as gig workers receiving benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program – need to stop growing. And for the first time since this fiasco started, this appears to be happening, according to data released today by the Department of Labor.
The total number of people who are still receiving unemployment benefits and who have not yet found jobs or gotten their old jobs back – the “insured unemployed” – under all state and federal programs fell by nearly 1 million to a still gut-wrenching 29.97 million (not seasonally adjusted):