Jobless Claims Increase an Additional 6.6 Million for Week Ending April 4th 2020

The U.S. Labor Department is reporting that unemployment claims hit another new record for the week ending April 4th, 2020. Another 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment last week, on top of the revised 6.9 million from the week of March 27th, 2020 and 3.3. million from the week of March 20th, 2020. This brings the 3-week total to 16.8 million Americans that are out of work. Again, this week, most of the employment declines came in the restaurant and drinking establishments, but health care and social assistance also were significantly impacted. California, New York and Michigan experienced the largest increases in claims this week.