Coronavirus: US sees record 6.6 million people seeking jobless aid amid lay-offs

The US economy has now suffered nearly 10 million lay-offs in just the past few weeks

The accelerating lay-offs have led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April

Reading Time:3 minutes

A New York City cyclist wearing a mask on March 18. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

Published: 10:12pm, 2 Apr 2020Updated: 5:43am, 3 Apr 2020

More than 6.6 million people in the United States applied for unemployment benefits last week – doubling a record high set just one week earlier – a sign that lay-offs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The stunning report on Thursday from the US Labour Department showed that job cuts are mounting against the backdrop of economies in the US and abroad that have almost certainly sunk into a severe recession as businesses close across the world.

Applications for unemployment benefits generally reflect the pace of lay-offs. Combined with last week’s report that 3.3 million people sought unemployment aid two weeks ago, the US economy has now suffered nearly 10 million lay-offs in just the past few weeks – far exceeding the figure for any corresponding period on record.

Some of last week’s jobless claims are likely delayed filings from the previous week, when state offices that handle unemployment benefits were overwhelmed by a surge of online and telephone claims.

The accelerating lay-offs have led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April. That would be more than double the 8.7 million jobs lost during the Great Recession. The unemployment rate could spike to as high as 15 per cent this month, above the previous record of 10.8 per cent set during a deep recession in 1982.