DOL reports that 28.8 million workers are either on unemployment benefits or have applied and are waiting to see if they will get benefits: August 22, 2020
| Regular state UI: Continued claims | Regular state UI: Initial claims | PUA: Continued claims | PUA: Initial claims | Other programs (mostly PEUC, STC, and EB) | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative | 13,909,872 | 821,591 | 10,972,770 | 1,132,792 | 1,946,059 | 0 |
Notes: This is an upper bound on the number of people “on” UI, for two reasons: (1) regular state UI and PUA claims should be nonoverlapping—that is how DOL has directed agencies to report them—but some individuals may be erroneously counted as being in both programs; (2) some states are likely including some back weeks in their continuing PUA claims, which would also lead to double-counting.
This is an upper bound on the number of people “on” UI, for two reasons: (1) regular state UI and PUA claims should be nonoverlapping—that is how DOL has directed agencies to report them—but some individuals may be erroneously counted as being in both programs; (2) some states are likely including some back weeks in their continuing PUA claims, which would also lead to double-counting. Non-seasonally-adjusted data are used throughout. Regular state UI continued claims are for the week ending August 15; regular state UI initial claims are for the week ending August 22. PUA continued claims are for the week ending August 8; PUA initial claims are for the weeks ending August 15 and August 22. “Other programs” are continued claims in other programs for the week ending August 8. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is the federal program for workers who are out of work because of the virus but who are not eligible for regular state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits (e.g., the self-employed). “Other programs” includes PEUC, STC, EB, and others; a full list can be found in the bottom panel of the table on page 4 at this link: https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf.
Source: Department of Labor (DOL) Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims (News Release), retrieved from DOL, https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf, August 27, 2020.