1.48m more Americans file for unemployment as pandemic takes toll

Claims for unemployment insurance have now fallen for 12 weeks in a row, but remain historically high. About 47 million people have now filed for benefits in the last 14 weeks, with 3m claims made in the last two weeks. Last week’s figure was just 60,000 lower than the previous week.

The latest figure comes even as states across the country have begun reopening after relaxing quarantine measures. But surges in infection rates in states, including new record highs in states including Arizona, California and Texas, are likely to prove a further drag on the economic recovery.

Nicholas Juhle, head of economic research at Greenleaf Trust, said a backlog of claims may have been adding to the still huge number of weekly claims. Prior to the pandemic, the largest weekly claim on record was 695,000 in October 1982.

Read more in The Guardian.