U.S. weekly jobless claims blow past six million as coronavirus lockdowns spread

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits shot to a record high of more than 6 million last week as more jurisdictions enforced stay-at-home measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which economists say has pushed the economy into recession. Thursday’s weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department, the most timely data on the economy’s health, reinforced economists’ views that the longest employment boom in U.S. history probably ended in March. With a majority of Americans now under some form of lockdown, claims are expected to rise further. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-layoffs/u-s-weekly-jobless-claims-blow-past-6-million-mark-idUSKBN21K0FX?il=0