New Hampshire unemployment numbers remain on a positive path
But over 2,500 people found themselves newly unemployed last week
More people are going back to work in the state and the nation. In New Hampshire the number of people collecting unemployment benefits fell to 60,470 for the week ending July 23, down nearly 6,000 from the week before.
But data reported for the week ending July 30 shows that some 2,545 other Granite Staters lost their jobs in the period. That’s about a fifth lower than the previous week but four or five times the weekly number reported before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
There are a couple of things going on. The economy is picking up and more people might feel comfortable going back to work, especially now that federally enhanced unemployment benefits have run out, at least for now.
Whatever the reason, the number continuing claims fell by 8.9% by July 23 after the previous week’s 8.4% decline. That shows a substantial number of unemployed individuals are finding jobs – more than twice time the number of those losing them. This is good news, although people are still getting laid off in historically large numbers.
Nationwide, jobless claims fell by a quarter of a million to 1.2 million. That’s a 17% drop, and initial claims went down 22%. But five months ago, most economists would have thought a job loss of more than million for a 20thstraight week would a catastrophe.
