The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits reached 1.314 million in the week ending 4 July 2020 – a grim total compared to the mere 209,000 applications this time last year – according to statistics released by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday. The figures do, however, come in at fewer than the expected 1.39 million.
The numbers come as a stark reminder of the depth of the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. Unemployment benefit claims in the US have now soared to a record 32.9 million, alongside fresh record-high daily coronavirus cases peaking at 62,000.
Meanwhile President Donald Trump has maintained his stance that his administration’s handling of the pandemic has been his “best work”.
Although dropping from an eye-watering peak of 6 million weekly unemployment claims at the height of the pandemic in April, the total number has stagnated above 1 million each week since lockdowns were first implemented across the US. Today’s figures represent a decrease of 99,000 on the week prior, and notably less than the 1.39 million predicted by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Last month, the Labor Department reported that 4.8 million jobs had been regained in June – the highest monthly gain since the pandemic began – bringing the unemployment rate down to 11.1% from its 13.3% peak during May.
The good news may well be threatened by a resurgence in virus cases in a number of US states, forcing the likes of Texas and California to reverse their reopening measures. The US has reported 130,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the last week, with American infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci warning that states and cities may have reopened too quickly.
Meanwhile, it has been a bad day for US stocks so far. The Dow Jones (INDEXDJX:.DJI) opened 170 points lower on the bell this morning, but has since plummeted by 502.85 points to a disappointing 25,564.43 at GMT-4 11:04 09/07/20. The NASDAQ (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has also sank 1.39% and the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) is down 1.21%, reflecting the overall pessimistic sentiment looming over American markets on Thursday.