U.S. Jobless Rate Soars to Record High as COVID-19 Pandemic Grows

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on the U.S. economy.  This morning’s (3-26-20) the U.S. Department of Labor Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claim Report confirmed what many had suspected.  For the week ending March 21^st, the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits, known as jobless claims, soared to a seasonally adjusted level of 3.28 million, from an upward revised 282,000 in the prior week. It marks the highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims on record. The four-week moving average was 997,250, which is an increase of 765,750 from the previous week’s revised average.