The number of Americans in high-income households who are collecting unemployment insurance benefits has surged more than sixfold in the last year, according to a Census Bureau survey.
About 113,800 adults in households with annual incomes of at least $200,000 reported receiving benefits in the last seven days, according to the Census Bureau’s latest Household Pulse Survey, conducted between March 29 and April 10. That’s up from about 18,100 a year ago.
The increase may reflect the wave of layoffs that has gripped white-collar sectors like tech and finance in recent months.
It also illustrates the churn in the higher-paid rungs of the labor market: More than 250,000 adults in such households reported receiving unemployment insurance benefits at some point since June 1, a little more than twice the number reporting receipt of benefits in the last seven days.
The survey provides insights into the background of filers for unemployment insurance that isn’t available in the Labor Department’s weekly report on jobless claims, and how likely such filers are to obtain the benefits.
Since June 1, about 351,000 adults in high-income households applied for unemployment insurance, and 72% received them. That compares with a 54% rate for the broader population. The rate was higher for college graduates as well, at 64%, versus 51% for those without four-year degrees.
Among the roughly 1.4 million who reported received benefits in the last seven days, 84% of them said they supplemented the government assistance by taking on more credit-card debt, spending down savings — including withdrawals from retirement accounts — or selling possessions to meet their needs.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.