Nearly 800,000 Filed For Unemployment Benefits Last Week: Here’s What You Can Do If You’ve Been Impacted

The United States Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial unemployment claims were 779,000, for the week ending Jan. 30. Continuing claims, which count the number of people collecting ongoing benefits, stand at 4.5 million.

Almost one full year into the pandemic, the unemployment numbers remain stubbornly high. The current level remains above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000 and greater than previous records dating back to 1967.

The economy is down roughly 10 million jobs from before the outbreak commenced. Over 77 million Americans have filed jobless claims since the pandemic hit. About 17.8 million Americans are collecting some sort of unemployment benefits. A large majority of the claims comes from the relatively newly enacted federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which offers jobless benefits to gig workers, contractors and those who weren’t previously eligible for state benefits.

Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note, “The data continue to signal weakness in the labor market, although a lack of sustained increases in recent weeks is a surprising and positive sign.” Farooqi added, “As states continue to relax restrictions, claims should stabilize at lower levels.”

A combination of massive financial aid packages and containment of the disease is believed to be the recipe for turning things around. Economists contend that President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic rescue program, in addition to the prior $900 billion federal stimulus plan, will reinvigorate the economy and help improve the job market.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, said, “We are in a race between the spread of more contagious variants of the virus, and reaching herd immunity with vaccinations.” Swonk warned, “The economy cannot fully reopen until the virus is wrestled to its knees via a combination of vaccinations, masks, testing, tracing and therapeutics.”

The pain has been centered on a handful of services sectors. This includes hotels, travel, leisure and hospitality, restaurants, airlines, movies, concerts, sporting events and other businesses that heavily rely upon face-to-face interactions and involve large crowds.

Job seekers in these hardest-hit sectors have a few choices to make, in light of high unemployment. They could keep looking within their field or try to transition to other industries—the latter may be the best option. Those who’ve been out of work for a while should broaden their horizons.

For many people, it makes prudent sense to take an inventory of their transferable skills, experience, talents, education and other abilities that could be appreciated by companies in other industries. A smart move is to find appropriate people at companies that you’d like to work for and introduce yourself via LinkedIn.

Bypass the application process and have a corporate contact or insider get to know you. You could tap your network to see if they know anyone who works at the companies you’d like to work for and ask them to put in a strong recommendation for you. This goes a long way, as hiring managers tend to like referrals from trusted and respected employees.

Try focusing on fast-growing companies that desperately need help quickly, as it may increase your chances of employment. Also, you may want to consider moving to cities that are seeing a rebound.

Long-term unemployment has been a persistent problem. There is some discrimination attached to being out of work for a long period of time. Consider taking contract work or a role in the gig economy to show that you’ve been active.

Be mentally prepared, as it may not be an easy process. With high unemployment, companies feel they can wait for the perfect fit. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep trying. Make sure that you are in front of a lot of companies, so that when the job market turns around, you’ll be on their radar screens.