Jobless claims shoot up to 6.6 million for week

Applicants for unemployment benefits totaled 6.6 million last week as the coronavirus outbreak continued to ravage nearly every corner of the U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The speed and scale of the job losses is without precedent. In just two weeks, the pandemic has left nearly 10 million Americans out of work, more than in the worst months of the last recession. Until last month, the worst week for unemployment filings was 695,000 in 1982. “What usually takes months or quarters to happen in a recession is happening in a matter of weeks,” said Michelle Meyer, chief U.S. economist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Even the figures on jobless claims are an incomplete reflection of how fully the pandemic has brought commerce to a halt. Many people who have lost jobs or income did not initially qualify for benefits. Others, encountering state unemployment offices that were overwhelmed by the deluge of claimants, were unsuccessful in filing. […]

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