The US is Facing A New Wave of First Benefit Claims

On Thursday afternoon, the United States Department of Labor released its weekly figure for the number of first claims for unemployment benefits in the United States.

Last week, the number of applications in one week appeared to have exploded due to the first wave of layoffs as a result of the corona pandemic.

Approximately 3.3 million Americans turned to the government for benefits last week, nearly 11 times more than a week earlier.

The number of first claims for unemployment benefits has never been higher. The previous record was set in 1982 when 695,000 people claimed benefits in one week.

Experts now expect the number of initial applications to reach 3.5 million. Smaller companies, in particular, seem to be walloped by the virus.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in response to the figures last week that they are not relevant now as measures are being taken to help people who lose their jobs.