More than 36 million people have now filed jobless claims.
The Labor Department said Thursday that another 2.98 million people filed the first time for unemployment benefits last week.
The coronavirus is still forcing a historically high number of Americans out of work. In two months alone, more than 36 million Americans have filed jobless claims. The report from the Labor Department last week said that 14.7 percent of Americans are currently out of work.
The pace of new applications slowed from its peak in March, but the weekly numbers are still far higher than before businesses closed down to contain the outbreak.
State unemployment offices are racing to work through the avalanche of filings, leaving many jobless workers who haven’t been able to get their applications processed or approved. New York’s Labor Department Commissioner Roberta Reardon said that measuring the backlog is “like trying to measure the ocean, it’s constantly moving.”
Goldman Sachs estimated the unemployment rate will hit 25 percent, matching the peak level of joblessness during the Great Depression.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- That with some businesses and states reopening, a sharp decline would occur in unemployment filings.
- For families hit hard by loss of jobs or furloughs and having unprocessed or denied unemployment claims.
- For workers at unemployment or labor offices who are struggling to keep up with the demands put on them.
Sources: Axios, Washington Post
