Unemployment Benefit Claims Decline

The amount of individuals in the United States who are seeking unemployment benefits has drastically declined, reaching the lowest amount seen in the United States in a total of four years. It is believed that one of the major reasons for the decline is because many of the automakers that usually shutdown during the summer months have decided not to do so in hopes of keeping up with all of the sales. This means that many individuals who would normally be laid off on a temporary basis are actually still employed and therefore they do not need unemployment benefits.

According to the United States Labor Department, the number of applications for unemployment benefits each week has declined. While this may seem like positive news, there are a number of economists who feel as though this decline is not going to last. In fact, several economists believe that there will be an increase in unemployment benefit applications within the next few weeks. One economist, Jill brown, says that the results for July should not be taken too seriously. July is usually a period of time when automakers close their doors for a few weeks, up until they are able to build their new models. However, the decision to shutdown was not made because automakers wanted to prevent shutdowns as way of continuing to keep up with sales and the demand for specific automobiles. Because of this, there are fewer people applying for unemployment benefits because fewer people are out of work.

Several of the top automakers made announcements about cutting back on the shutdown. In fact, the Ford Motor Company made a statement back in May, saying that it would only be closing down shop for one week instead of two. In the meantime, Chrysler announced back in May that it wouldn’t be shutting down at all because the company wants to be able to keep up with the current demand. Because the automakers have chosen to reduce shutdowns, more people are still working.

While the decline in unemployment applications may initially sound like good news, it has been proven that the United States is still struggling with job creating and the entire hiring process has been weakened during this economic recovery. In fact, the unemployment rate has remained unchanged and is at 8.2 percent. Fewer jobs have been made available during the summer months, especially due to the warmer winter that was experienced all around the nation. Even with the decline in unemployment benefit applications, the economy still needs a whole lot of work.