Over 20% of the labor force receives unemployment compensation

There are about 
160 million people 

in the civilian labor force, 

according to the Bureau 

of Labor Statistics.

31.8 million receive 

unemployment

compensation 

under state and 

federal programs. 

31.8 million 

means

over 20% 

of the 

labor force 

receives 

unemployment 

compensation.

So how can the 

unemployment rate

be under 20% ?

About 20% 

of the labor force 

is on unemployment 

insurance.

Newly laid-off workers 

keep filing for initial 

unemployment benefits

week after week.

On top of the people

already unemployed

and receiving benefits. 

People who started working 

again are not making 

a visible dent in the curve.

In the week ended July 18, 

31.8 million Americans

 (not seasonally adjusted)

were collecting unemployment

insurance, just off the peak.

Source: Department of Labor

The 16.2 million continuing

claims that were reported 

by the mainstream media

were only the claims under 

state unemployment 

programs.

There is a huge difference 

between 16.2 million state

continuing claims and 

31.8 million total state 

and federal continuing 

claims !

The federal programs 

are new, established by 

the CARES Act.

That doesn't mean

they should be

ignored !

The mainstream media

loves to report bad news

about Trump -- they even

make up fake news, 

such as the evidence-free 

Trump-Russian collusion 

fairy tale, since 2016

... but then they 

completely miss honest

reporting about how many 

Americans are really

collecting unemployment 

insurance.

I don't get it.

$4,000 a month unemployment

insurance for each 

of two people I know 

in Michigan, 

at least until the

end of July 2020

 -- not bad money

for staying home !

Seasonal 

adjustments 

make no sense 

in the COVID-19 age,

but the 

“not seasonally adjusted” 

data in the charts is similar.

Example: 

For the week ending July 18:

    Seasonally adjusted: 

+1.42 million new 

initial unemployment 

claims with state 

unemployment offices

  Up from +1.30 million 

in the prior week, 

and the highest 

in four weeks. 

    Not seasonally adjusted: 

+1.37 million new 

initial unemployment 

claims with state 

unemployment offices.

  Down from +1.51 million 

in the prior week, 

and the lowest so far in this 

18 week crisis.

Federal Pandemic 

Unemployment 

Assistance

     (PUA): 

had 13.18 million 

continuing claims 

for contract workers, 

the self-employed, 

and other “gig workers”: 

  During the week, 

+974,999 new PUA claims 

were added by 48 states.

Two states 

seem to be

running late

with processing

those claims.

State and federal programs 

combined last week totaled 

+2.35 million 

( +1.37 million initial 

state claims 

+974,999 initial 

federal PUA claims) 

+2.35 million is a huge number

after 18 weeks of this COVID

catastrophe !