New York’s jobless claims jump 60 percent in latest week

The number of people filing initial applications for unemployment benefits in New York state soared more than 60 percent to 38,246 in the week ending July 12, from 23,819 the week before.

Layoffs in the transportation and warehousing, construction, and public administration sectors of the state’s economy led the increase in initial jobless claims, according to a U.S. Department of Labor news release issued today.

New York posted the largest increase in claims among all states, with California second, and Georgia third.

It’s the fourth straight week that initial jobless claims have risen in New York since setting a year-to-date low of 16,201 in the week ending June 14. This signals a rise in layoffs by Empire State employers after an extended period of declining or steady numbers of pink slips.

The number of people continuing to receive unemployment-insurance benefits in New York also jumped in the most-recent week to 194,624, from 174,233 in the prior week, according to the Labor Department data. It’s the second weekly increase in a row since continuing claims set a 2014 low of 169,263 in the week ending June 28.

The state data is not seasonally adjusted.

National claims
The national numbers for jobless claims paint a completely different picture with strong signs that employers are letting go of the fewest workers since before the Great Recession and financial crisis. The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that nationwide the number of people filing initial unemployment claims plummeted by 19,000 to 284,000, an eight-year low, for the week ending July 19. Analysts had been expecting nearly 310,000 initial claims in the latest week, according to Yahoo Finance data.

The national claims numbers are seasonally adjusted.

The Labor Department will release state data for new unemployment-benefit applications for the week ending July 19 next week.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com