New Delhi (NVI): More than 41 million Americans have lost their jobs since the virus outbreak intensified in mid-March, according to reports.
According to the US Department of Labor, 2.1 million more people have applied for US unemployment benefits last week, despite the gradual reopening of businesses around the country.
The overall number of Americans currently drawing jobless benefits dropped for the first time since the crisis began, from 25 million to 21 million.
As per reports in the US media, for the first-time applications for unemployment have fallen for eight straight weeks, as states gradually reopen restaurants and businesses.
The US unemployment rate was 14.7 per cent in April, a level not seen since the Depression, and many economists expect it will be near 20 per cent in May.
The economists also said many of the jobs lost are never coming back, and double-digit unemployment could persist through 2021.
With over 1,01,000 deaths due to COVID-19 and the total number of cases surging past 1.7 million in the United States, the pandemic situation has led to a large number of people filing unemployment claims.
