New state unemployment filings fall to 757,000
22 October 2020
First-time applications for unemployment fell last week, according to Department of Labor data released on Thursday.
Between the lines: The overall number of Americans relying on unemployment also fell to a still-staggering 23 million. But there are continued signs of labor market strain, with more people shifting to an unemployment program designed for the long-term jobless.
By the numbers: Filings for regular state unemployment fell came in at 757,000 — still above pre-pandemic peaks, but a dramatic decline from the 6 million new weekly applications filed early on in the pandemic.
- Add in applications for the unemployment program designed for gig workers and self-employed, and total new filings came to 1.1 million.
- The report included revisions from California, which paused reporting of its weekly claims figures to get through its growing backlog of new applications. The revisions lowered the overall number of jobless applications in recent weeks.
What to watch: The number of workers that have continued to receive unemployment benefits — after filing for the first time — fell by over 1.2 million, but much of that decline is because workers have exhausted unemployment benefits.
- Over half a million workers shifted into the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which allows those whose regular unemployment benefits expired to receive an additional 13 weeks of support.
- More than 3 million Americans are now receiving benefits through that program.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.