3.8 million more Americans file for unemployment in wake of pandemic

More than 3.8 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, meaning the coronavirus crisis has sidelined more than 30 million workers, new federal data show. That means 18.6 percent of the nation’s workforce — more people than the entire state of Texas — tried to collect unemployment checks in the last six weeks as …

More than 3.8 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, meaning the coronavirus crisis has sidelined more than 30 million workers, new federal data show.

That means 18.6 percent of the nation’s workforce — more people than the entire state of Texas — tried to collect unemployment checks in the last six weeks as the pandemic led to mass layoffs across the country.

The US Department of Labor’s latest seasonally adjusted total of initial jobless claims remained at a level that was unthinkable less than two months ago even as it fell from 4.4 million in the week ending April 18. Economists expected 3.5 million claims last week.

“Record-high filings for unemployment benefits are beginning to abate, but the flood will likely continue,” Bloomberg economists Eliza Winger and Andrew Husby said in a commentary.

The number of people receiving continued unemployment checks climbed to a record 17.9 million in the week ending April 18 from the previous week’s total of 15.8 million. The feds report those continuing claims with a one-week lag.

The number of new filings has dropped for four consecutive weeks since peaking at 6.8 million in the last week of March as overwhelmed state offices drove through backlogs of claims. But New York recorded an unadjusted total of 218,912 unemployment claims last week, up from 205,184 in the prior week, according to the feds.

The numbers indicate the pandemic has caused job losses on a scale not seen since the Great Depression as lockdowns meant to stem the spread of the deadly virus forced many businesses to close and lay off or furlough their workers. Some states such as Georgia have started allowing certain businesses to reopen, which could bring some of the jobs back.

The feds’ monthly employment report for April will provide one of the broadest pictures yet of just how deeply the virus has gutted the labor market when it’s released next Friday. Some experts expect the unemployment rate will surge to 20 percent by June from just 4.4 percent in March.

With Post wires

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