Last week's unemployment claims explained

Last Thursday, 

March 26, 

we found out that

3.283 million people 

had filed U.S. initial 

unemployment claims 

( in the week ended 

March 21, 2020 ). 

Companies that 

laid off people 

BEFORE virus

lockdowns 

were included.

But many people

out of work,

were not included.

And people 

whose hours

were cut 

were not 

included.

People who own

small businesses

were not included.

On March 17, the five 

largest San Francisco 

Bay Area counties were

the first major region 

in the US to go into 

a "lockdown". 

The State of California 

followed with a full state

lockdown on March 20, 

just before the March 21 

deadline for the initial 

claims count

reported last

Thursday.

Other states 

followed with 

lockdowns 

AFTER 

the initial claims

reporting week 

had ended.

Hardest hit last week were:

    Health care & social assistance services;

    Arts, entertainment and recreation;

    Transportation and warehousing;

    Manufacturing industries.

The huge number 

of unemployment claims

last week caused several 

state websites for 

unemployment claims 

to crash intermittently, 

delaying the claims. 

Those crashes probably 

pushed some claims 

into the next week 

( ending March 27 ),

to be reported 

Thursday morning.

States with intermittent 

crashes of their websites 

reportedly included 

New York, Oregon, 

Colorado, Kentucky, 

and others.

MANY  OF  THE  

UNEMPLOYED  

AMERICANS 

ARE  NOT  

COUNTED !

The "gig workers"

( contract workers )

and the self-employed,

can't file unemployment

claims.

Such as:

Tech contract workers 

whose projects 

have been put on hold. 

Instructors, coaches 

and consultants 

of all kinds.

Musicians facing 

closed bars, 

restaurants, 

and clubs.

Uber and Lyft drivers

with little business.

Vacation-rental 

entrepreneurs with 

some units on Airbnb,

that no one is booking.

Under provisions 

in the stimulus bill, 

some of these people

may become eligible 

to file for some kind

of compensation. 

I don't know

the details 

right now.