#US workers file 1.3 million more jobless claims as coronavirus total nears 50 million

The coronavirus crisis has forced American workers to file nearly 50 million applications for unemployment benefits in just four months, including 1.3 million last week, new federal data show.

Thursday’s figures from the US Department of Labor suggest the virus has sidelined more than 30 percent of the nation’s workforce at some point since mid-March in the worst employment crisis since the Great Depression.

COVID-19 is likely to keep the job market under pressure as the nation battles a surge in coronavirus infections, which has forced some states to shutter businesses like restaurants and bars that had been allowed to reopen.

“Soaring virus cases present downside risks to the fragile recovery in the labor market,” Bloomberg economist Eliza Winger said in a commentary. “Workers in service jobs, such as leisure and hospitality, may see renewed job losses.”

Weekly initial jobless claims have plateaued at a level that would have been unthinkable before the pandemic despite falling sharply from their peak of 6.8 million. The numbers have hovered between 1 and 2 million for six consecutive weeks, well above the Great Recession’s high of 665,000. Economists expected about 1.37 million claims in the week ending July 4, according to Bloomberg.

Continuing claims, which measure ongoing unemployment on a one-week lag, also remain startlingly high. There were about 18 million in the week ending June 27, compared with 18.7 million the prior week and just 1.7 million in the first week of March, the feds’ data show.

The latest claim numbers came on the heels of last week’s closely watched jobs report, which showed the US economy adding 4.8 million jobs in June while the unemployment rate fell to 11.1 percent. But that data was collected before the latest spike in coronavirus cases, which has threatened to sideline some workers a second time.