An unparalleled number of Americans filed for unemployment benefits this week as the coronavirus pandemic shut down businesses and left many people without a job, economists say. State-level anecdotes suggest applications for unemployment benefits—a proxy for layoffs—could hit more than 2 million in next Thursday’s Labor Department report, the largest weekly increase in jobless claims and the highest level on record, according to a note from Goldman Sachs.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 20, 2020 18:19 UTC