WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Millions more Americans likely submitted claims for unemployment benefits last week, however the tide seems slowing, offering mindful hope of a peak in job losses from service closures and interruptions since of the novel coronavirus.
FILE IMAGE: Individuals who lost their tasks wait in line to apply for joblessness following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at an Arkansas Workforce Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. April 6,2020 REUTERS/Nick Oxford
The Labor Department’s weekly out of work claims report on Thursday will follow news on Wednesday that the economy in the very first quarter suffered its sharpest contraction since the Great Economic downturn. This ended the longest expansion in the United States’ history as the economy reels from across the country lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19, the breathing illness triggered by the virus.
Unemployed benefit applications, given that hitting a record 6.867 million in the week ended March 28, have been trending lower as overloaded state employment offices cleared stockpiles.
But the numbers are still at high levels inconceivable just months back. Preliminary claims for state welfare likely amounted to a seasonally adjusted 3.50 million for the week ended April 25, according to a Reuters study of financial experts. That would be down from 4.427 million in the prior week and mark the fourth straight weekly reduction in applications.
” As these claims are processed, there might even be a sharp drop in initial filings,” said Andrew Hollenhorst, a