Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Record 3.3 Million US Workers Make Jobless Benefit Claims

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - A record 3.3million U.S workers filed for unemployment
   compensationlast weekas thousands of businesses shut their doors or
   curtailed operations in the face of thedeadly coronavirusand laid off
   their employees, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

   The wave ofclaims by the newly unemployed has overwhelmed some state
   agencies that handlethe paperwork, with the jobless workers forced to
   wait hours in line at officesor online if they were filing
   electronically.Jobless claim websites in some states, including New
   York and Oregon, crashed.

   The vast number of claims easily surpassed the previous one-week record
   in theU.S.-- 695,000 in 1982 as the U.S. battled high inflation at the
   time.

   Economists say thehuge number ofnewunemploymentinsurance claimsis just
   one indication of theeconomicdamage wrought by the coronavirus. Some
   suggest the U.S. might already be in a recession, evenif the technical
   definition of a recession, two straight quarters of declining growth,
   is not met.

.