Coronavirus leaves at least 10% of the American workforce unemployed in three weeks: 6.6 million file new claims in a week bringing the total out of work to 16 million
At least 10 percent of American workers have lost their jobs in the past three weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic after a record 6.6 million new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week.
Weekly new claims topped 6 million for the second straight time last week as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly ground the country to halt.
The Labor Department’s latest report on Thursday showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4 totaled 6.6 million, down slightly from an upwardly revised 6.87 million the week before.
In total, at least 16.6 million Americans have now filed for unemployment aid in the past three weeks as the coronavirus spread throughout the country and businesses closed.
The number will likely keep increasing, in part, because many states are still clearing out backlogs of applications for unemployment aid after people reported lengthy delays trying to lodge claims online or via the phone.
More than 20 million American may lose jobs this month, economists predict. The unemployment rate could hit 15 percent when the April employment report is released in early May.
Hundreds of people in Miami spent hours on Wednesday waiting in line to fill out unemployment forms after the website they were posted on crashed
The new jobless claims figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948.
The viral outbreak is believed to have erased nearly one-third of the economy’s output in the current quarter. Forty-eight states have now closed non-essential businesses with restaurants, hotels, department stores and small businesses laying off millions as they struggle to pay bills at a time when their revenue has vanished.
The surge of jobless claims has overwhelmed state unemployment offices around the country.
It comes as hundreds of people in Miami spent hours on Wednesday waiting in line to fill out unemployment forms after the website they were posted on crashed.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which processes unemployment benefit applications, couldn’t handle the surge on its website as panicked Floridians flocked to it amid the coronavirus-induced economic downturn.
People have been reporting issues with the page for two weeks, while people calling the agency’s phone line have faced hours on hold.
Authorities began distributing paper forms this week in the Cuban neighborhood of Hialeah where lines to pick up the documents wrapped around the block.
Up to 50 million jobs are vulnerable to coronavirus-related layoffs, economists say – about one-third of all the jobs in the United States.
That figure is based on a calculation of positions that are deemed non-essential by state and federal governments and that cannot be done from home.
It’s unlikely all those workers will be laid off or file a jobless claim but it suggests the extraordinary magnitude of unemployment that could result from the pandemic.
Authorities began distributing paper forms this week in the Miami neighborhood of Hialeah where lines to pick up the documents wrapped around the block.