Nearly 3.3 Million People Filed For Unemployment Benefits Last Week, Shattering Previous Records
Just three weeks ago, barely 200,000 people applied for jobless benefits, a historically low number. This is “widespread carnage," said Jacob Robbins, an assistant economics professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "And it’s going to get worse.”
Bloomberg:
Jobless Claims Surged To Record 3.28 Million Last Week
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits surged to a record 3.28 million last week as businesses shuttered and laid off workers as part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Initial jobless claims in the week ended March 21 were up from 282,000 in the prior week and more than quadruple the previous record high of 695,000 in 1982, according to Labor Department figures released Thursday. The figures date back to 1967. (Pickert, 3/26)
CNBC:
Jobless claims soar past 3 million to record as coronavirus sends Americans to the unemployment line
The number shatters the Great Recession peak of 665,000 in March 2009 and the all-time mark of 695,000 in October 1982. The previous week, which reflected the period before the worst of the coronavirus hit, was just 282,000. Consensus estimates from economists surveyed by Dow Jones showed an expectation for 1.5 million new claims, though individual forecasts on Wall Street had been anticipating a much higher number. The surge comes amid a crippling slowdown brought on by the coronavirus crisis. (Cox, 3/26)
The Washington Post:
A Record 3.3 Million Americans Filed For Jobless Claims As Coronavirus Puts Economy Into Recession
This is “widespread carnage," said Jacob Robbins, an assistant economics professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, "And it’s going to get worse.” Thursday’s Labor Department report encompasses completed applications filed March 15-21. Layoffs skyrocketed on Monday, March 16 after President Trump declared that no more than 10 people should gather together at once time, effectively forcing restaurants and other public places to close. (Long and Fowers, 3/26)
Los Angeles Times:
New Weekly Jobless Claims Soar To 3.3 Million Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Almost every state logged large increases in claims, led by several East Coast states, Ohio, Texas and California, according to filings and estimates by states.In California alone, more than a million people have applied for unemployment benefits this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. (Lee, 3/26)
USA Today:
Coronavirus: Jobless Claims Surge To 3.3M As Coronavirus Spreads
The total was well above the 1.5 million claims economists had forecast, according to the median estimate of those surveyed by Bloomberg. The pandemic has set off the most abrupt near-shutdown of the economy in history. Many restaurants, shops, movie theaters, sports arenas and other gathering spots across the country suddenly closed their doors or scaled back service last week to contain the spread of the virus. (Davidson, 3/26)
CNN:
Initial Claims For Unemployment Benefits Soared To 3.3 Million Last Week, Most In History
In the last couple weeks, the coronavirus outbreak has forced many businesses to suddenly shut down as the country tries to slow the spreading virus. For many businesses that also means laying off workers, at least temporarily. That is the key difference between the coronavirus shock compared with past periods of economic distress: it is sudden and impacts virtually every industry and business model around. Economists now expect the US economy to fall into a recession in the second quarter, before staging a comeback later in the year after the spread of the virus slows. (Tappe, 3/26)
NPR:
3.3 Million File For Unemployment Claims, Shattering The Record
The loss of that many jobs would push unemployment to 5.5% — a level it last reached in 2o15 — but it's likely to climb even further. Goldman Sachs has predicted that the jobless rate could approach 13% during the next few months. "If the number of new claims is as high as predicted and if it remains high in coming weeks, unemployment will skyrocket," the Joint Economic Committee of Congress said in a report ahead of Thursday's data. (Zarroli, 3/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
Global Stocks Slide As U.S. Jobless Claims Hit Record
Stocks slipped Thursday as U.S. unemployment claims soared, offering fresh cues on the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced a shutdown of wide swaths of the country. Futures tied to the S&P 500 fell 1.4%, signaling an end to two days of gains in U.S. stocks. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 declined 1.8%. (Hirtenstein and Ping, 3/26)
The Associated Press:
'The Whole City Laid Off': US Jobless Claims Climb Sky High
Barely a week ago, David McGraw was cooking daily for hundreds of fine diners at one of New Orleans’ illustrious restaurants. Today, he’s cooking for himself, at home — laid off along with hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S. in a massive economic upheaval spurred by efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. (Santana and Lieb, 3/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Long Run Of American Job Growth Has Ended
The great American job machine just ground to a halt. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 1 million Americans are forecast to have filed for unemployment benefits last week, marking a dramatic end to a historic national job expansion that started in 2010. Until March, U.S. employers added jobs for a record 113 straight months, causing payrolls to grow by 22 million. In the process, millions of people—including low-wage hourly laborers, disabled people, minorities, former inmates and others—found work. (Morath and Hilsenrath, 3/26)
Politico:
‘This Will Be A Wallop’: Rural Areas Brace For Hard Economic Hit
Rural communities are bracing for the looming recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, expecting that it could devastate already shaky economies. As the virus shuts down schools, factories, restaurants and other businesses, rural towns contend with a smaller tax base, less access to high-speed internet and growing strain among lenders. (Crampton and McCrimmon, 3/26)
The New York Times:
A Homeless Family Navigates A Life Warped By The Coronavirus
April Goode awoke shortly before 7 a.m. after a night of restless sleep atop two sleeping bags and a blanket on the floor of her hotel room. Her four children were asleep on the two full beds. Ms. Goode turned on the television and kept the volume low. More news about the coronavirus. On a normal weekday — if anything about being homeless and living in a Quality Inn in northern New Jersey could be considered normal — a van would have picked up her children and taken them to school 45 minutes away in Chatham, N.J. (Zaveri, 3/25)
ABC News:
For America's Homeless, Staying Home During Coronavirus Outbreak Is Not An Option
While government officials and health experts are advising the public to "stay home" and "stay inside" as the novel coronavirus has spread, that is not an option for the nation's vast homeless population. "Social distance is a luxury that the homeless can't afford," said Shirley Raines, founder of Beauty 2 The Streetz, a nonprofit that provides services to homeless people on Skid Row in Los Angeles. "There are 60,000 homeless people in L.A. that have nowhere to go." (Romero, 3/25)
KQED:
Sex Workers Are Moving Online, Supporting Each Other During Coronavirus
Retail, restaurant, hospitality and arts workers—and all kinds of professionals whose livelihoods are tied to in-person meetings—are currently suffering from coronavirus-related job cuts. The U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index estimates that 37 million jobs are vulnerable to layoffs due to social distancing measures to slow the spread of the pandemic.While many white collar workers continue to labor from home, one group facing particularly acute challenges are sex workers, whose work is often illegal, in legal gray areas or not covered by unemployment laws. (Voynovskaya, 3/25)
KQED:
Farmworkers Can’t Pick Crops Remotely. How Can They Stay Safe?
California’s farm belt pumps out more than a third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts every year. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, employers who manage the state’s orchards, packing sheds and fields of row crops are faced with a dilemma: continue operating and hope that workers don’t get sick or shutter their doors, forcing workers to file for unemployment and putting the country’s food supply at risk. (Hall and Khokha, 3/25)
