California Unemployment Bucks Nationwide Pattern of Shrinking Jobless Claims – CBS San Francisco
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) – New national figures released showing initial jobless claims fell to 184,000 in the week ending December 4, the lowest since September 1969, according to the Department of Labor.
But California is bucking the trend.
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“This morning we had 20 percent of the new jobless claims in the country, while we only got about 11.7 percent of the
civilian workforce, ”said Michael Bernick, labor attorney and former head of the state’s employment development department.
Bernick says several COVID-related factors contribute to California’s oversized proportion of the country’s unemployed.
“Sustained effects of the very strict closings and the impact on our small business economy as well as the heightened concerns about COVID and its variants, childcare and uncertainty about schools,” said Bernick.
Large office buildings and corporate headquarters in downtown San Jose remain largely empty.
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With COVID posing a persistent health threat, companies have postponed plans to return to the office more than once. This has created a ghost town effect on the streets and in restaurants like 4th Street Pizza.
“It still has a profound effect on us,” said Josh McGhie, co-owner of 4th Street Pizza. “I mean, downtown San Jose used to be a busy area. There are very few people out here now. “
Fewer people in the office mean fewer people on the sidewalk buying food, shopping or needing services. That means reduced working hours for small businesses and their employees.
In addition, there is a segment of the California workforce that is slow to return to work, even when jobs are available.
“Young people, it seems, don’t want a job. It’s definitely hard to hire people, ”said McGhie.
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It makes it difficult especially for small businesses, which McGhie says are still operating in survival mode.
