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April 16, 2010
CONGRESS CLEARS UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS EXTENSION, SIGNED BY PRESIDENT
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Congress has approved and President Obama has signed into law a 2 month retroactive extension of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) through June 2, 2010. It also includes a retroactive extension of the $25 FAC program; 100% federal funding of extended benefits; and funding for COBRA health insurance premium subsidies. The bill provides:
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The period during which individuals may file for Federal EUC) is extended from weeks beginning before April 5, 2010 to weeks beginning before June 2, 2010 and the period during which individuals may claim and be paid EUC is extended from ending September 4, 2010 to November 6, 2010.
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The period during which individuals may qualify for the Federal Additional Compensation (FAC), the extra $25 per weekly benefit amount on state and federal unemployment compensation, would be extended for the same weeks as the EUC extension.
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The period during which 100% federal reimbursement for weeks of regular federal extended benefit payments is provided is extended from ending after April 5, 2010 to June 2, 2010, with the state option to continue the extended period for payments extended from September 4, 2010 to November 6, 2010.
INITIAL CLAIMS INCREASE 24,000
- Initial UI claims rose by 24,000 in the week ended April 10, to 484,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis according to data released April 15 USDOL's Employment and Training Administration (ETA).
- The increase followed a smaller uptick of 18,000 the previous week, when initial claims stood at 460,000. The 4 week average is up 7,500 to 457,750 but is still below the month-ago level.
- Continuing claims for the week of April 3 rose 73,000 to 4.639 million, a level that is also the four-week average. Here too, the four-week average is a bit below the month-ago comparison.
- States reported 5.8 million persons claiming EUC for the week ending March 27, an increase of 261,817 from the prior week.
ETA ANNOUNCES $50 MILLION TO ASSIST WITH RE-EMPLOYMENT ACTIVITIES
- The ETA has announced $50 million in grants to 33 states and D.C to implement re-employment and eligibility assessments for beneficiaries of UI. For 6 states, these will be new grants, while 27 states and D.C. will use their funds to continue their work in this area. The grants allow states to conduct in-person assessments of beneficiaries' needs for training and reemployment services, as well as determining whether the recipients remain eligible for services.
JOLTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 2010
- Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) data for February, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), shows there were 2.7 million job openings on the last day of February, comparable to the 2.8 million a year earlier. The job openings rate declined slightly in February to 2.1% from 2.2% in January and represented no change from 12 months earlier.
- There were nearly 4 million hires in February, down slightly from January and representing a slight decline from 12 months earlier. The most recent peak of 5.6 million was in January 2005.
- At about 4 million in February, separations have been declining since December 2009. Separations include quits (involuntary separations), layoffs and discharges (involuntary separations), and other (including retirements). Voluntary separations (quits) have continued a modest upward trend, after descending through most of 2007-08. This recent trend, as reflected by the percentage change of the 3 month moving average, shows 4 consecutive months of growth and might reflect a greater worker ease at changing jobs. Also, for the first time since November 2008, quits outnumbered layoffs and discharges.
- All but 2 major industries of the nonfarm sector experienced a decline in separation rates from January to February. The 2 remaining industries showed no change.
- The rate of hires has changed little since November 2008. Ranging between 3 and 3.2%, it reflects little improvement in employer demand for labor. However, demand for labor in manufacturing is showing perhaps the most notable improvement of the past 12 months, as the hires rate has risen from 2 to 2.2% and the job openings rate moved from 1.1 to 1.5 %.
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