Although easing slightly from the prior week, California UI claims for the week of June 13 continued within the same general—but substantially elevated over pre-COVID—range of the prior month. As a result, layoffs are continuing at a rate 8 times higher than the average for 2019. While a large percentage still covers temporary layoffs, the WARN Act data analyzed last week by the Center indicates there is also a shift now occurring to permanent layoffs.

Nationally, actual claims (not seasonally adjusted (NSA)) for regular UI were at 1,433,027, while the seasonally adjusted (SA) level used for trend analysis was 1,508,000. Combined with PUA claims, the national NSA numbers eased 3%. California showed 243,344 initial UI claims (NSA) along with 69,447 initial PUA claims (NSA), with the total down slightly by 4% from the prior week.

Combining both the regular UI and PUA initial claims, California had the highest number of initial claims among the states. Total initial claims for California for the week were 1.7% of the April labor force, the 12th highest among the states. To date, total initial claims of 6.2 million since the beginning of the state’s shutdown represent just over a third of the labor force. This level, however, does not translate directly into the unemployment level. Not all claims are necessarily approved, filers may have secured employment after submitting their claim, and individuals may have filed more than one claim in this period.

Although not included in the table above, claims under the new Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program continues to show significant numbers. This new category allows an additional 13 weeks of coverage for persons who have exhausted their regular benefits, including eligibility for the additional $600 a week. California claims were at 425,056 or 39% of total claims nationally. Rather than newly unemployed persons, claim rates for this category are an indicator in the growth of long-term unemployment, a major problem during the shallow recovery from the 2008 Recession that had a depressing effect on wage and longer-term employment prospects for the affected workers.