Unemployment Claims, COVID-19 Restrictions and Economic Support Measures in the U.S.

Abstract

This paper considers the role of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and economic support measures (ESM) in affecting excess unemployment insurance claims in the U.S. Using a panel Vector AutoRegressive specification, we find that unemployment claims are significantly affected by both policies (NPIs and ESM), and that economic support measures mitigate partially the negative labor market consequences of NPIs.