A record 26 million Americans sought unemployment benefits
over the last five weeks, confirming that all the jobs created during the
longest employment boom in U.S. history were wiped out in about a month as the
novel coronavirus savages the economy.
The Labor Department said on Thursday 4.427 million more
people applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, down
from a revised 5.237 million the week before. The median expectation among
economists in a Reuters poll was for claims to have fallen to 4.2 million last
week, although estimates had ranged as high as 5.5 million.
The latest data brings the cumulative unemployment benefits
claims to more than 26 million since the week ending March 21, representing
about 16% of the labor force. The economy created 22 million jobs during the
employment boom which started in September 2010 and abruptly ended in February
this year.
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