California first-time jobless claims at record and counting

California is seeing record numbers of first-time jobless claims with more filings in the first nine months of this year than in the previous 3 1/2 years combined, state Employment Development Department officials report.

This year Californians filed 182,736 initial claims for unemployment through September. From June 2005 through December 2008 — 42 months — 179,461 total first-time claims were filed, said Loree Levy, an EDD spokeswoman.

California first-time jobless claims

Year	Filings
2007	45,276
2008	80,402
2009*	182,736
*Through September

Source: Employment Development Department

The U.S. recession officially began in December 2007. What had been a steady loss of jobs became a deluge late last year after the stock market crashed, pulling the rest of what was already a fragile economy down with it.

California has been particularly hard hit because so many of its jobs were tied to mortgage, real estate and construction. As of August, nearly 2.3 million Californians were unemployed, pushing the jobless rate up to 12.2%, the highest by state estimates since December 1940.

First-time claims in California had been been on a general down trend since June, but began rising again in mid-September.

Even as record numbers apply for unemployment, thousands are exhausting their benefits without finding new jobs. California officials estimate 66,000 fell off the rolls in September alone.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week — perhaps as early as Tuesday, Oct. 13 — on a bill that would extend benefits an additional 14 weeks in all states and 20 weeks in high-unemployment states like California.

If approved by the Senate and the House, the bill would give unemployed workers in California up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits ranging from $65 to $475 a week.



- Via OC Register