offices had been closed over the holidays,
requiring some jobless people to wait until last
week to apply. The addition of a $300-a-week
federal unemployment benefit, as part of a
rescue aid package enacted late last month, may
have also encouraged more people to apply,
Vanden Houten said.
Many people in the arts and entertainment
fields have lost most or all of their incomes as
the coronavirus has shut down performance
venues. They include Shelby Lewis, a classical
trumpet player in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
who hasn’t performed since early March,
when he played Bach with a Kansas City
musical chamber.
Lewis, 48, is receiving $400 in weekly
unemployment aid, including the new $300
federal benefit, and his wife is still working. He
appreciates the federal aid, which freelance
musicians like him haven’t been eligible for in
the past.
Fearful, though, that many classical music
groups will permanently close, Lewis is shifting
his career back to photography and design,
which he did for a decade before becoming a
full-time musician.
“I think there is generally going to be a decline
for small regional orchestras,” he said.
In addition to last week’s first-time applications
for unemployment aid, the government
said Thursday that 5.3 million Americans are
continuing to receive state jobless benefits, up
from 5.1 million in the previous week. It suggests
that fewer people who are out of work are
finding jobs.