New Hampshire jobless claims dip slightly
(The Center Square) – First-time unemployment claims in New Hampshire dropped slightly last week, but the decline was offset by an increase in those seeking federal jobless benefits.
At least 3,356 new jobless claims were filed for the week that ended Jan. 28 – down by 813 from the previous week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly report.
Another 531 new claims were filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federally backed program which covers workers ineligible for regular unemployment benefits. That’s an increase of 449 claims from the previous week.
Meanwhile, 28,275 continuing claims – which are considered a barometer of the unemployment situation – were filed in the week ending Jan. 16, a decline of 805 over the previous week.
Nationally, about 847,000 new jobless claims were filed last week, a decline of about 67,000 claims from the previous week, according to the Labor Department.
Continuing claims dropped by 203,000 to about 4.7 million nationally, the labor department said, the lowest level since the pandemic began last year.
Despite the improving labor market, more than 18.2 million people are still receiving state or federal unemployment benefits.
Many jobless workers are benefiting from an extra $300-a-week from federal unemployment programs that were extended for another 11 weeks by the latest COVID-19 relief package.
The government-funded programs provide federal jobless benefits for self-employed, gig workers and others who aren’t covered by traditional state unemployment programs.
President Joe Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal, which calls for an extension of federal jobless programs and an increase to the $300 weekly benefit. But that proposal isn’t expected to come up for a vote in Congress for several weeks, and details of the relief package are likely to change as it moves through the approval process.
New Hampshire has distributed about $1.5 billion in jobless benefits to more than 165,000 jobless workers during the pandemic, according to the state employment agency.
The state’s unemployment rate for December was 4%, a slight increase from the previous month, according to New Hampshire Employment Security.
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