By Peter Hancock
More than 114,000 workers in Illinois filed first-time unemployment claims in the week ending Saturday, March 21 as the United States saw its biggest one-week spike in recorded history with 3.2 Million workers filing for benefits.
The U.S. Department of Labor report the seasonally-adjusted number was due entirely to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has forced bars and restaurants to close, halted public gatherings, and severely restricted travel across the country. The Department reported economists typically expect to see a decline in new jobless claims during the third week of March.
The previous national record of 695,000 initial claims in one week was set in the October 1982 recession.
The total number of new claims in Illinois ending March 21 was 114,663, a 950-percent jump over the previous week and a 1,338-percent increase over the same week last year when there were only 7,933 new unemployment claims.
According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, new jobless claims were already beginning to climb. There were 10,870 new claims in the week ending March 14, a 25-percent increase over the previous week.
The sudden and historic followed two executive orders by Gov. JB Pritzker severely restricting social and economic activity. Sunday, March 15, he ordered all public and private K-12 schools to close. Then, Monday, March 16, he ordered bars and restaurants to close for consumption on their premises and banned public gatherings of 50 or more people.
Friday, March 20, he issued a sweeping stay-at-home order banning virtually all public gatherings and directing people to keep a distance of six feet between themselves and anyone else while out of their homes. It took effect the following day.
Those actions were aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19.
—Capitol News Illinois