Massachusetts Coronavirus: 139,582 More File For Unemployment

BOSTON — The number of Massachusetts residents applying for first-time unemployment benefits during the week that ended April 4 was 139,582. While that was down from last week’s total, analysts warned the actual number of people forced out of work by the new coronavirus may be much higher than those in Thursday's U.S. Department of Labor report.

That’s because the massive influx of claims has slowed processing. And the situation is expected to worsen; a report released Wednesday warned that Massachusetts unemployment could pass 25 percent by June.

For the previous week ending March 28, the jobless claims number was 181,062, up 21.9 percent from the prior week's record-breaking number of 148,452. This week's numbers were anticipated; earlier this week the Massachusetts Department of Labor said 17 Massachusetts companies laid off 3,724 workers for the week ending April 3.

The biggest weekly claims number in Massachusetts during the Great Recession came in December 2008, when 22,028 people filed for unemployment during a single week. In 2008, however, layoffs came in waves over the course of several months.

Nationally, the number of people filing for unemployment fell slightly to 6.61 million from 6.62 million last week. Before the unprecedented unemployment claims two weeks ago, the worst week for unemployment claims was 695,000 in 1982.

Worst is yet to come

On Wednesday, the Pioneer Institute released a report warning that unemployment in June could reach 25.4 percent, more than 10 times February's 2.5 percent rate. Report authors Greg Sullivan and Charles Chieppo said Massachusetts should band with other states to lobby Congress for block grants.

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"The alternative is a state budget crisis of unprecedented severity," Chieppo said.

Paul D. Craney, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a conservative think tank, called the report "the canary in the coal mine."

"Many of the COVID19 policies are designed to protect Massachusetts residents of the virus but today’s study should warn state leaders that they need to focus on tightening their belt and our economic well-being," Craney said. "The good news is that they have yet to pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which means there’s still time to implement some fiscally responsible, pro-growth policies to set us on the right track."

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Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).