5.2 million more file for unemployment
By Niv Elis - 04/16/20 08:33 AM EDT
Another 5.2 million people filed initial unemployment claims for the week ending April 11, according to the Department of Labor, adding to the sharpest and most severe rise in joblessness in the nation's history.
Thursday's report is the fourth in a row showing more than a million initial claims, a level that had not been reached previously.
Overall, more than 22 million people have filed for initial benefits in the span of just four weeks, accounting for about one of every seven workers in the economy, and nearly wiping out the 22.4 million jobs created in the 11-year recovery that followed the last recession in 2009.
Economists believe that the unemployment rate is likely already up to at least 15 percent, a stunning rise from a 50-year low of 3.5 percent earlier this year. Some predict that number could end up reaching as high as the Depression-era peak of 20 percent.
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https://thehill.com/policy/finance/493085-5.2-million-more-file-for-unemployment
