3.17 million Americans filed for unemployment in the week ended May 2, according to advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims released by the US Department of Labour.
The unemployment figures recorded over the past weeks, since states adopted strict stay at home measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus, is now more than 33.3 million. The Pandemic has erased the entirety of all jobs created in the past decade in America, and marks the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression.
Although the number is still grim, it’s the lowest amount of jobless claims since the week ended March 15.
Self-employed workers were made eligible last month for jobless benefits under the CARES Act passed by the US congress and signed into law by President Trump last month.
More than two dozen states have started reopening their economies and reducing stay at home restrictions. US lawmakers who resumed sitting earlier this week, are debating whether to move forward with another round of coronavirus relief.
Congress has passed four massive economic-relief packages totaling nearly US$3 trillion, an unprecedented amount, to blunt the virus outbreak’s toll on American workers and businesses.
The Vice Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Richard Clarida earlier this week predicted that the economy will get its bearings in the second half of the year.
Written by:
Basil Maduakor
