More than 22 million American have lost their jobs in the last four weeks as the coronavirus pandemic has swept across the US, according to government figures. The US labor department announced on Thursday that another 5.24 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week, making a total of 22.2 million since 14 March when nationwide stay-at-home orders led to an unprecedented wave of layoffs across the country.
The largest number of people to ask for unemployment benefits in a four-week period before the Covid-19 crisis came in 1992 when 2.7 million sought support.
The torrent of layoffs has swept across the country, and every sector of the economy, leading to backlogs and anger at state unemployment offices as people have struggled to make claims. The delays are likely to trigger further spikes in the figures in coming weeks.
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Source: The Guardian
