A worker, right, hands out paper unemployment applications after a batch of applications in English were brought in, Tuesday, April 7, 2020, at Babcock Park in Hialeah, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
More than 6.6 million people applied for unemployment benefits last week, according to new data from the Department of Labor.
That brings the total number of layoffs since the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. economy to 17 million, or 10 percent of the total workforce, in just three weeks.
This is only the latest in a series of historic surges for the unemployment rolls. Two weeks ago, a record-breaking 6.9 million people filed jobless claims. The week before that saw 3.3 million claims, surpassing the former one-week record of 695,000 set in 1982.
One reason for the continued rise in filings is that more people can now apply. The $2.2 trillion stimulus package that Congress passed at the end of last month expanded unemployment insurance to freelancers, independent contractors, and the self-employed.
How this impacts the economy in the long-run is a topic of fierce debate. Economists are projecting unemployment rates of 10 percent to an astonishing 30 percent by this summer.
The unemployment rate for March rose to 4.4 percent, but that doesn't account for the bulk of the economic damage that followed nationwide stay-at-home orders and shutdowns later in the month.
The Federal Reserve followed up the job numbers with the announcement that it would put $2.3 trillion into the economy through new loan programs for small businesses, states, and municipalities.
Co-founder and CEO of Colossal Ben Lamm explains how the company is working to bring back extinct species and shares early details of the upcoming documentary from the ‘My Octopus Teacher’ filmmaker.
Soundhound AI co-founder, president, and CEO Keyvan Mojaver discusses bringing its audio tools to cars and drive-thrus, plus why smaller companies may benefit from the A.I. boom.
Deiya Pernas, co-founder of Pernas Research, breaks down Nvidia’s blockbuster earnings, why energy is a sector to watch, and why the A.I. trend is far from over.
The NBA is organizing its next media rights deal to figure out which networks and streaming services will show their games for the next decade. Last time, most of the prominent streaming services didn't exist yet.
