WASHINGTON––Credit unions are likely to see even more requests for assistance after the newest jobless numbers show 6.6 million Americans filing first-time unemployment claims last week, and one-third of apartment renters saying they can’t pay April’s rent.
According to the Labor Department, that brings the total claims over the past three weeks to more than 16 million. Analysts have noted that when those claims are compared to the 151 million people on payrolls in the last monthly employment report, that means the U.S. has lost 10% of the workforce in three weeks.
The most recent jobless number represents a decline of 261,000 from the previous week, which was revised up by 219,000 to nearly 6.9 million.
One reason for the ongoing surge in filings in unemployment insurance has been exacerbated by the expansion of those who can file claim. The $2.2 trillion CARES Act expanded the group to include the self-employed and independent contractors.
California, New York and Michigan saw the largest increase in claims last week.
Not surprisingly, most of the employment decline came in restaurants and drinking establishments, although health care and social assistance also took a hit. A more representative number of the actual impact to employment came through the Labor Department’s survey of households, which indicated a drop of nearly three-million from the employment ranks, noted the New York Times.
Can’t Pay Rent
Separately, nearly a third of U.S. apartment renters didn’t pay any of their April rent during the first week of the month, according to a new report from the National Multifamily Housing Council and a consortium of real-estate data providers.
The data indicate just 69% of tenants paid any of their rent between April 1 and 5, compared with 81% in the first week of March and 82% in April 2019.
“The count includes renters who only made partial payments,” the New York Times reported. “Many renters who haven’t yet paid may still pay later this month, NMHC said, and an uptick in paperless payments over the weekend may not be reflected in this initial count.”
The data come from 13.4 million rental apartments analyzed by several real-estate data firms, including RealPage, Yardi and Entrata. The properties included are considered investment grade with a tenant base that may skew higher-income than the median renter. The data don’t include single-family homes, and the apartments counted exclude public housing and other subsidized affordable housing.
As CUToday.info has reported, some tenants will be temporarily protected from eviction for unpaid rent by a patchwork of new federal and local laws aimed at preventing evictions.