US New Jobless Claims Rise To Record 6.6M As Coronavirus Hammers Economy

New U.S. jobless claims for the week ending March 27 totaled a whopping 6.648 million versus a 3.5-million estimate, according to numbers reported Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The initial jobless claims in the week ending March 20 reached 3.283 million.

It is estimated that unemployment claims are likely to remain high in the coming weeks, as many states haven’t fully processed all unemployment-benefit applications due to the deluge, reports The Wall Street Journal.

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Constance Hunter, chief economist at KPMG LLP, told the Journal that she estimates 20 million jobs will be lost as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

“We didn’t see this in the global financial crisis. We didn’t see this in the Great Depression. There’s been a total decimation of consumption.”

Last week, President Donald Trump signed a $2-trillion stimulus package into law. 

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