Staggering 6.6 Million Americans Filed For Unemployment Last Week In New Record High
Jobless claims in the U.S. skyrocket to historic levels, with twice as many people filing last week as they did the week before. Analysts forecast that the trend will continue as businesses continue to layoff more employees due to the coronavirus-driven shutdowns.
CNN:
6.6 Million Americans Filed For Unemployment Benefits Last Week, A Record High As Coronavirus Takes Its Toll
Millions more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, as businesses continue to lay off and furlough workers amid the coronavirus outbreak. 6.6 million workers filed for their first week of unemployment benefits in the week ending March 28 — a new historic high. Economists polled by Refinitiv had expected 3.5 million claims. (Tappe, 4/2)
NPR:
6.6 Million File For Unemployment, Another Dismal Record
In the prior week, ending March 21, a revised 3.307 million initial claims were filed. But analysts said even that lofty number was low because many states' employment websites were overwhelmed, making it difficult for applicants to get through. (Schneider, 4/2)
The Associated Press:
A Record 6.6 Million Seek US Jobless Aid As Layoffs Mount
The figure for last week is much higher than the previous record of 3.3 million reported for the previous week. The surging layoffs have led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April. The unemployment rate could spike to as high as 15% this month, above the previous record of 10.8% set during a deep recession in 1982. (Rugaber, 4/2)
The Wall Street Journal:
Record 6.6 Million Americans Sought Unemployment Benefits Last Week - WSJ
“The speed and magnitude of the labor market’s decline is unprecedented,” said Constance Hunter, chief economist at KPMG LLP. Ms. Hunter said she expected that millions more claims will be filed in the coming weeks and projects 20 million jobs will be lost. There are several reasons why unemployment claims are likely to remain high in the coming weeks. For one, many states haven’t fully processed all unemployment-benefit applications due to the deluge. Further, the federal rescue package signed into law last week increases the pool of workers who can tap benefits by making independent contractors and self-employed individuals eligible. (Chaney and Morath, 4/2)
MarketWatch:
Jobless Claims Leap Record 6.6 Million At End Of March As Coronavirus Triggers Mass Layoffs
Countless businesses across the country have been forced to close or scale back hours, throwing hordes of people out of work and triggering an unprecedented back-to-back surge in initial jobless claims. New claims are likely keep climbing in the next few weeks as the damage unfolds. (Bartash, 4/2)
CNBC:
US Weekly Jobless Claims Double To 6.6 Million
Before the coronavirus shut down major parts of the U.S. economy, the highest week for claims was 695,000 in 1982. The Great Recession high was 665,000 in March 2009. However, the sudden stop as the government has instituted social distancing policies caused a cascade of joblessness unlike anything the nation has ever seen. (Cox, 4/2)
Fox News:
US Unemployment Shot To New Record High Last Week With 6.6 Million Americans Laid Off
The report, which provides the most up-to-date evidence on the labor market and the health of the economy, likely reinforces economists' views that the U.S. has already entered a recession, bringing to end a historically long, 11-year economic expansion. Lawmakers are looking to provide relief to laid-off workers with a $2 trillion stimulus package, the largest relief bill in recent memory, that President Trump signed last week. In addition to giving adults who earn less than $99,000 annually up to $1,200 cash checks, the bill expanded unemployment benefits. (Henney, 4/2)
Politico:
States Overwhelmed By Previously Unimaginable Layoff Numbers
In Michigan, the state unemployment filing system crashed this week because it was overloaded. In California, it may take much longer than usual for hundreds of thousands of jobless people to get their benefits. In New York, one laid-off worker says she called the state labor department 800 times before getting through. As previously unimaginable layoff numbers pile up across the country, the state-by-state systems for getting benefits into the hands of people who lost their jobs are stressed, inefficient and not sending money quickly enough to the people who most need it. (Cassella and Murphy, 4/1)
Stateline:
'We Have No Money': Coronavirus Slams State Taxes
Governors nationwide have ordered businesses to close and people to stay home in order to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. But the public health measures have created an economic crisis that will, in turn, hit state and city budgets. Now policymakers are scrambling to figure out how much spending power they’re losing at a moment when they need money to fight the pandemic and help laid-off workers and struggling businesses. (Quinton, 4/2)
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus Recession Now Expected To Be Deeper And Longer
As projections of the coronavirus death toll soar, forecasts for the ensuing economic carnage have also quickly turned much darker — both for the depth and duration of the damage. Where only days ago, economists were following President Trump’s lead in saying the U.S. economy would be back on track relatively quickly, a growing number now say the downturn will probably exceed the Great Recession of 2008-09. (Lee, 4/1)
KQED:
Coronavirus Rent Strike In The Bay Area: Tenants ‘Giving The Governor Notice’
April 1 is the day rent is due for many around the Bay Area, but in the midst of a statewide shelter-in-place order, many are unable to pay. Instead of suffering silently, however, some Bay Area tenants are launching a campaign to withhold rent. A group of at least 20 calling themselves rent strikers are issuing Gov. Gavin Newsom their own 30-day notice to cancel all rent and mortgage payments during the current public health crisis. If he fails to act, renters across the state are planning to withhold rent payments beginning on the first of May. (Sarah, 4/1)
The New York Times:
Farmworkers, Mostly Undocumented, Become ‘Essential’ During Pandemic
Like legions of immigrant farmworkers, Nancy Silva for years has done the grueling work of picking fresh fruit that Americans savor, all while afraid that one day she could lose her livelihood because she is in the country illegally. But the widening coronavirus pandemic has brought an unusual kind of recognition: Her job as a field worker has been deemed by the federal government as “essential” to the country. (Jordan, 4/2)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Coronavirus Forces Dairy Farmers To Dump Milk
About 7 o’clock Tuesday night, Golden E Dairy got the call that any dairy farmer would dread. They were being asked to dump 25,000 gallons of fresh milk a day because there was no place for it to go as the marketplace for dairy products has been gutted by the closure of restaurants, schools, hotels and food-service businesses. An hour later, the family-run farm near West Bend opened the spigot and started flushing its milk into a wastewater lagoon — 220,000 pounds a day through next Monday. (Barrett, 4/1)
