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Another 3.2 million people filed for unemployment for the first time last week, bringing the total number of jobs lost during the coronavirus crisis in the last seven weeks to at least 33.5 million.

The claims numbers come one day before the release of the April jobs report, which is expected to show a staggering jump in unemployment to around 16 percent. 

 that unemployment, which hit 4.4 percent in March, will average nearly 14 percent during April, May and June. Moody's Investors Service predicts it will rise to 15 percent during the quarter.

The real unemployment rate is probably higher, says Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

"I think we are not near the peak yet," she says. "I think we are still going to see additional job losses show up in the data for May, for June. Unfortunately, I don't think this has gotten as bad as it will get yet."

One sign of how much damage the job market has sustained came Wednesday, when the ADP Research Institute said the private sector alone 

 last month, a record. The previous record was 835,000 jobs cut in February 2009, during the height of the Great Recession.

The crisis has hit all kinds of businesses, from neighborhood restaurants to well-known names like Airbnb, which is 

Business and Economic News

Health

COVID-19

Jim Zarroli

Author

Another 3.2 million people filed for benefits, bringing the total number of jobs lost during the pandemic to 33.5 million. The government is expected to report a huge jump in unemployment Friday.

3.2 million more are out of work as jobless claims keep piling up

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