After Two Weeks of Declining, Unemployment Claims Rise

Initial claims for unemployment filed by Montgomery County residents rose during the week that ended Dec. 5. Residents filed 1,403 initial claims compared to 1,177 during the week that ended Nov. 28. Residents filed 1,558 initial claims during the week that ended Nov. 21 and 1,797 during the week that ended Nov. 14, according to the Maryland Department of Labor (DOL).

Statewide, the number of initial claims filed last week also increased. During the week that ended Dec. 5, 15,361 Marylanders filed initial unemployment claims. During the week that ended Nov. 28, which included the Thanksgiving holiday, 12,790 Marylanders filed initial unemployment claims. During the previous week that ended on Nov. 21, 18,916 Maryland residents filed.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the United States was 6.7%. The number of unemployed people is 10.7 million. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult women is 6.1% and 6.7% for adult men. It is 14% for teenagers, according to the BLS.

Among the unemployed, the number of persons on temporary layoff decreased by 441,000 in November to 2.8 million. The number of people who have permanently lost their jobs was reported at 3.7 million.

About Suzanne Pollak

Suzanne is a freelance reporter with Montgomery Community Media. She has over 35 years professional experience writing for newspapers, magazines, non-profit newsletters and the web.

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