Nearly 2.5 million more Americans filed for first-time unemployment claims last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, bringing the total number of US job losses from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to around 39 million
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2020) Nearly 2.5 million more Americans filed for first-time unemployment claims last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, bringing the total number of US job losses from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to around 39 million.
"In the week ending May 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 2,438,000," the department said in a news release, showing, however, that the figure had declined from the previous week's near 3 million filings.
It previously released data showing around 36 million Americans had filed for first-time unemployment benefits over eight weeks as most non-essential businesses in the United States were shuttered to limit the impact of the virus.
The US economy shrank 4.8 percent in the first three months of 2020 for the sharpest economic decline since the Great Recession of 2008/09. While nearly all 50 states in America have begun reopening their economies one way or another over the past two weeks, economists warn of sharp recession by the second quarter, meaning job losses could remain sizable.
With the latest jobless claims filings, the US unemployment was at 17.2 percent, 1.7 percentage points from the previous week's revised rate, the Labor Department said.
The largest increases in initial jobless claims for the week ending May 16 were in Florida. The leisure-centric state, which is home to Disneyland, had 48,222 more filings than the previous week due to layoffs triggered by the slump in holiday travel forced by the pandemic. California, in contrast, had the largest decrease in claims. The most-populous US state with one of the country's most diversified economies saw a drop of 103,590 filings from the previous week.
