Weekly Unemployment Claims Soar; Bogus Excuses Offered

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 23 were in New Jersey (+5,326), Massachusetts (+4,027), Pennsylvania (+2,306), Ohio (+1,700), and Connecticut (+1,601), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-1,861), North Carolina (-1,662), Missouri (-1,618), New Mexico (-1,417), and Arizona (-1,138).

An Eye Test

Just to make sure that I am not blind, does anyone see either New York or Oregon in that list?

However, I must point out that was for the week ending April 23, not April 30. Then again, the Oregon extension kicked in for the week ending April 23.

This of course has me wondering what extended emergency benefits have to do with "initial" claims in the first place unless someone dropping off the list then coming back on a week later counts as an "initial" claim.

As a point of reference, also note the spring break in New York City was as follows: Monday, April 18 through Tuesday, April 26 including Good Friday, Easter and Passover.

What kind of silly system allows teachers to file for unemployment benefits for a one-week recess? For that matter, why should they be able to file even for a whole summer?

Nonetheless, let's watch to see next week if there is some huge jump for New York or Oregon. If not, this was a huge smoke-blowing exercise.