The U.S. labor market saw stunning job losses for the third week in a row as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on companies large and small.
More than 6.6 million people filed for unemployment in the week ending April 4, the Department of Labor said today, for a total of more than 16 million in the last three weeks. That means about 1 in 10 workers have lost their jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The DOL’s weekly report shows most of those jobs are in food services and retail, with manufacturing and construction also widely affected. But few industries appear to be untouched—forestry, fishing, hunting, arts and entertainment, real estate, transportation, and wholesale trade were among the affected industries cited by specific states.
The one bright spot, if you can call it that, is a slight decline in the weekly number of claims, which was down about 261,000 from last week.
Revised numbers for the week ending March 28 show that these states were the hardest hit:
- California (871,992)
- New York (286,596)
- Michigan (176,329)
- Florida (154,171)
- Georgia (121,680)
- Texas (120,759)
- New Jersey (90,438)
You can read the full report here.
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