Jobless-Claims Jump Flashes U.S. Shutdown Warning: Economy
While half the increase came from California as the state worked through a backlog following a switch in computer systems, another 15,000 reflected the furlough of non-federal workers from employers losing government business, a Labor Department spokesman said as the data was released to the press. Applications (INJCJC) for unemployment insurance benefits surged by 66,000 in the week ended Oct. 5 to 374,000, the most since late March, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington.
“The economic costs of a shutdown are going to increase the longer the shutdown occurs,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania and the second-best claims forecaster over the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “If this drags along for the next couple of weeks, the economic toll will be even more significant.”