Unemployment claims skyrocket

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the United States economy, as a staggering 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment in a single week. Economists fear a severe global recession is a certainty.

By

National News

April 2, 2020 - 10:21 AM

NEW YORK (AP) — The economic damage from the coronavirus crisis piled up as an unprecedented 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in a single week, and the competition for masks and other protective gear intensified amid growing evidence that people who are infected but have no symptoms can spread the virus.

The staggering new unemployment claims, announced today, double those of last week’s previous record high and bring to 10 million the number of people who have lost their jobs in the U.S. in just two weeks because of the outbreak.

They almost certainly signal the onset of a severe global recession.

With large portions of America under lockdown to try to contain the scourge, job losses for the world’s biggest economy could reach as high as 20 million and the unemployment rate could spike to as high as 15% by the end of the month, many economists have said.

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