Applications for unemployment assistance in California rose last week, as nearly 237,000 residents filed claims for lost jobs, according to Thursday’s report from the U.S. Department of Labor.
That brings the total number of Californians who have filed unemployment claims to more than 8 million since the coronavirus pandemic started shutting down large sectors of the state’s economy.
Even more troubling, California's unemployment claims account for more than a quarter of the nation's total of 881,000 claims filed last week.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in California was 13.3% in July — the most recent month for which data has been published. That’s down from a peak of 16.4% in May, but well above the 4% unemployment rate for the same time period last year.
Also this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it is adjusting how it calculates seasonal fluctuations in unemployment data to better reflect the current economic instability.