The Stay-at-Home Labor Market: Google Searches, Unemployment Insurance, and Public Health Orders

Daniel Aaronson, Scott Brave, R. Andrew Butters and Michael Fogarty

Chicago Fed Letter, 2020, issue 436

Abstract: This article looks at the relationships between internet searches for unemployment-related terms, unemployment insurance (UI), and the public health orders issued in the U.S. during the Covid-19 pandemic. We find that Google searches for unemployment-related subjects surged before the record increase in initial UI claims, which in turn peaked before the public health orders were implemented. As of mid-April 2020, these orders covered the vast majority of the U.S. population. Since then, the rates of increase in both search activity and initial UI claims have slowed.

Keywords: Labor market; Covid-19; Google; Unemployment Insurance (UI); stay-at-home (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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