NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Layoffs in the
US labor market are rapidly trending upwards as the virus continues
to spread. Initial unemployment claims rose by 181,000 to 965,000
in the week ended January
9th. In November, the average weekly number of
claims was 740,000. Layoff rates from the Job Openings and Labor
Turnover survey are also trending upwards, mostly due to restaurant
layoffs. Layoff rates in the Accommodation and food services
industries rose from 1.1 percent in October to 3.4 percent in
November. And December's jobs report showed a decline for the first
time since April.
The jump in initial unemployment claims in early January
suggests that layoffs and job losses probably increased further as
well, especially in restaurants. Restrictions on indoor dining
combined with colder temperatures preventing outdoor dining, will
continue to hurt restaurant jobs for the rest of the winter.
But while the outlook for the winter is bleak, the US labor
market should get much stronger in the second half of 2021, mostly
due to the impact of the vaccination campaign. By the summer,
the United States could reach herd
immunity, preceded by very low rates of new infections in the
spring. In the United States, 3.5
to 5 million new jobs should be created by the first quarter of
2022, with the unemployment rate dipping below five percent.
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SOURCE The Conference Board