More layoffs in both US and Wisconsin, and GOPs want to make those people desperate

Remember when I said that we should be cautious about last week’s decline in new unemployment claims because it could be skewed by the Thanksgiving Holiday, and that we should wait to see what things looked like from the 1st week of December?

Well, we found out about that first week of December today, and it was not good at all.

Another 853,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was the largest number of claims since mid-September.

Not adjusting for seasonality, initial claims stood at nearly 950,000….

On top of regular applications for jobless benefits, 427,609 workers filed claims under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which is designed to help people such as the self-employed. It was also an increase from the prior week. This number is not adjusted for seasonality.

Together, first-time claims totaled 1.4 million last week, not adjusted for seasonal changes, also the highest level since mid-September.

Some of this increase seems to be related to including the number of people on workshare to the number of people out of work entirely, as the Department of Labor’s report notes.

Note: Advance claims are not directly comparable to claims reported in prior weeks. Advance claims are reported by the state liable for paying the unemployment compensation, whereas previous weeks reported claims reflect claimants by state of residence. In addition, claims reported as "workshare equivalent" in the previous week are added to the advance claims as a proxy for the current week's "workshare equivalent" activity.

But that same report says just over 100,000 Americans were on workshare in late November, so it’s still the case that there was a significant rise in people getting laid off at the start of December.

You would think that jump in people losing their jobs would add to the urgency to get a new stimulus deal done, but given that Moscow Mitch seems fine with wrecking things for Biden and tens of millions of Americans, it is not guaranteed.

Remember, those 427,600 people that went back on PUA last week will be cut off in 2 ½ weeks if there is no stimulus deal struck by then, as would the 8.55 million that were already receiving PUA two weeks ago. Also set to be cut off are most of the 5.1 million Americans that have been out of work and on the “regular” unemployment program for more than 26 weeks. These two groups were the majority of the 19 million people on unemployment two weeks ago (the last date we have for this data).

Wisconsin was not immune, as over 21,000 Sconnies filed new unemployment claims last week, a rise of nearly 5,400 compared to the week before, and the number of continuing claims in Wisconsin jumped by more than 17,500, going above 100,000 for the first time since mid-October. In addition, Wisconsin’s level of long-term unemployed stayed elevated in late November, still exceeding 65,000, with another 27,000 being on PUA.

Along with these 92,000 Wisconsinites possibly being cut off in the next 16 days, they and the other 105,000 currently on “regular” unemployment are looking at another barrier to benefits in the near future, if the gerrymandered GOP State Legislature gets their way.

During a Wednesday meeting with the state’s largest business group, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and incoming Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said temporary waivers of Wisconsin’s one-week waiting period and work search requirements for unemployment benefits will be allowed to expire early next year.

Lawmakers approved waiving the one-week waiting period until Feb. 7 in their wide-ranging COVID-19 response legislation earlier this year.

The work search waiver was first instituted through an emergency order from Gov. Tony Evers in March. When that order expired, his administration worked with lawmakers to approve an emergency rule to extend it. Those extensions were approved by the GOP-controlled rulemaking committee in September and November, with the latest extension set to expire on Feb. 2.

During the virtual meeting with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce members on Wednesday afternoon, Vos argued the waivers shouldn’t be extended again because "Wisconsin’s unemployment has come down to a much more manageable number."

"That one-week waiting period should probably remain and not be allowed to lapse again, so people are out looking for work as quick as they can," Vos said.

What's "work", Robbin'?

Senate GOP Leader Devin LeMahieu echoed Vos’s words to the WMC oligarchs, including the (now untrue) claim about unemployment trending lower in Wisconsin.

This underscores the goal of these barriers for Republicans – to make the unemployed as desperate as possible, so they will accept any menial work and wages they can, while lessening the amount of people on the unemployment rolls, keeping payroll taxes lower for the WMC crowd. In either health care or in employment prospects, the last thing GOPs and their puppetmasters want is for everyday people to have options.

I can’t understand how this GOP neglect and arrogance is allowed in 2020, but it won’t stop until there is an electoral, financial and/or physical price to be paid in mistreating the poor and unemployed. That goes both for the corporations that value profits over people, and the GOP-puppets that they prop up.