US Weekly Unemployment Claims Reach 3.28 Million... Record High (Comprehensive)

The Worst Unemployment Crisis Realized Due to COVID-19

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The number of unemployed people in the United States increased by as many as 3.28 million in one week due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The COVID-19 crisis has turned the U.S., which was enjoying a boom in employment, into the worst unemployment situation in history.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on the 26th (local time) that the number of unemployment benefit claims for the third week of March (15-21) was 3,283,000. The previous week's increase in unemployment benefit claims, which reached 282,000, was a preview. The figure was beyond the experts' expectations, who predicted it would be between 1 million and 2 million.

The previous record of 695,000 claims set during the second oil shock in 1982, as well as the 650,000 claims recorded during the global financial crisis in 2009, were all broken.

The surge in unemployment benefit claims is estimated to be the result of U.S. President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency and implementing social distancing, as well as many states including New York issuing 'stay-at-home orders,' effectively halting economic activities except for essential industries.

There are concerns that the unemployment rate for March, to be announced in early next month, could sharply reverse from the historically low level of 3.5% in February to the 30% range.