The Labor Department reported on Thursday that unemployment claims reached a record 6.6 million in the last week ending on March 28, doubling the number of claims in the previous week amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
“This marks the highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the
history of the seasonally adjusted series,” the department said in its report.
There were 3,307,000 jobless claims in the week ending on March 21, which had shattered the previous weekly record of of 695,000 in October 1982, according to the Labor Department.
The coronavirus outbreak has proven to be catastrophic to the workforce. Governors in 37 states have issued stay-at-home orders requiring “non-essential” establishments, such as bars and restaurants that don’t offer take-out service, to shut down while ordering people to stay indoors unless they seek out groceries or other establishments that provide basic services.
As such, the orders have led to a torrent of job losses.
