Cooler but still well above normal this week

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The United States is still losing jobs at an alarming pace two months after the coronavirus pandemic took hold. 

Another 2.4 million people filed claims for unemployment last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's down 249,000 — or 9 percent — from the previous week, but still painfully high by historical standards.  

In the last nine weeks, jobless claims have totaled 38.6 million. That's roughly 1 out of every 4 people who were working in February, before the pandemic hit. 

About half of U.S. homes lost wages during pandemic

 — the highest since the tail end of the Great Depression. Millions of additional people have joined the ranks of the  unemployed since then.

"The jobs numbers will be worse before they get better," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers this week. 

 found 20 percent of people who were working in February had been furloughed or laid off in March or early April. The job cuts were concentrated among lower wage-workers. In households making less than $40,000, nearly 40 percent said they were out of work.

As high as it is, unemployment doesn't capture the full extent of the pandemic's economic fallout. A 

 shows many Americans who are still working have lost hours or seen their wages cut. Nationwide, 47 percent of all households say their income has declined as a result of the coronavirus. Losses were even higher in tourist-dependent states such as Nevada and Hawaii.   

Business and Economic News

Health

COVID-19

Scott Horsley

Author

The United States is still losing jobs at an alarming pace two months after the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Another 2.4 million people filed claims for jobless benefits last week.

38.6 million have filed for unemployment since March

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