Employment Figures Less Bad / Some Counties Shutting Down Again
Employment Figures Less Bad
More than two months into the COVID-19 crisis, California’s employment picture remains bleak. But a new report Thursday on jobless claims offers a bit of hope.
California recorded 212 thousand first-time claims for unemployment last week. That’s still a huge number — but it’s the lowest total since late March, right after shops, restaurants and just about everything else closed up. These weekly jobless figures soared to more than one million in early April.
Altogether, the state has processed more than 5 million unemployment claims since mid-March. This week, the state’s Employment Development Department said it would hire 1,800 new workers to help speed up the processing and delivery of unemployment benefits.
Some Counties Shutting Down Again
On May 11th, Lassen County became one of the first to allow dine-in at restaurants and in-store shopping. At the time, the county had no positive cases.
But this week, local health officials announced they would have to retract those plans afterat least five cases were confirmed since Friday. Forty-eight counties have been permitted to expand business openings, Lassen is the first to back out.
Meanwhile, Sonoma County allowed sit-down meals at restaurants, breweries and wineries over Memorial Day weekend. Now, their health officers say they’re putting a pause on reopening because they’ve seen cases double in the past two weeks.
They will not move onto the next phase of reopening, which includes hair salons and places of worship.
