The Trump administration has asked states to bury their unemployment figures as swathes of people sign on to jobless benefits amid the coronavirus shutdown. A copy of the email on state jobless figures was shown to the Wall Street Journal by a state labor department official. Data from Ohio shows a three-day total of 78,000 jobless claims up to Tuesday this week, compared to just 3,000 total in the same period last week. Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and economic adviser Larry Kudlow will meet behind closed doors with Senate leaders. Keeping paychecks flowing for idled workers as jobless claims skyrocket is a top priority for both Republican and Democratic plans emerging from Congress.

Source: Daily Mail March 20, 2020 09:40 UTC