Econ Unemployment

1. First, find the web site for the U.S. Department of Labor.  Then click on the link to the "Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report".  Then copy and past the URL into your answer.  This should be the report dated August 27, for the week ending August 22.  This report will be available at 5:30 am on August 27.

2. Second, report how many new claims for state unemployment insurance there were in the most recent report.  This number must be in the millions and use one decimal place in the fraction.  What was the change in new claims as compared to the previous week?  Hint:  this number is on the first page of the report.

3. Third, report how many new claims there were for the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, which is a  Federal program.  Again, this number must be in the millions and use one decimal place in the fraction.  What was the change in total applications as compared to the previous week?  Hint:  this number is on the second page of the report.

4.  Fourth, what number of California unemployment insurance claims for the previous week when you combine the state unemployment filings, and the claims for Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA.  Please write out your calculation as (number of UI) + (number of PUA)  = (answer or total number). Hint:  these numbers are on the fifth and seventh pages of the report.

5. Last, look at the graph of the "seasonally adjusted insured unemployment" on page one which shows the total number of people getting unemployment.  Try to envision the graph upside down where the numbers before the pandemic represent a "normal economy".  Then given the number of people still without work and getting unemployment, which of the following letter shapes best describes the economy (a) a "V-shaped" recovery where lost jobs are quickly coming back so the the numbers of jobless decline quickly to pre-recession levels; (b) a "swoosh" recovery where the jobs that were lost quickly will come back slowly but steadily; (c) an "L-shaped" recovery where the jobs that were lost are not coming back; or (d) a "W-shaped" economy where the initial job losses are recovered but then there is a second downturn of more job losses.