The Labour Department on Thursday said 5.245 million new unemployment claims were filed last week, down from a slightly revised 6.615 million the week before. According to a Reuters survey of economists, initial claims were expected to have fallen to 5.105 million in the week ended April 11. Last week's claims data brought the cumulative unemployment benefits claims to more than 20 million since the week ending March 21. Last month's job losses also ended an employment boom that started in late 2010, which was the longest in US history. "Overall job losses in April could be 10 to 20 times larger than those in March."

Source: bd News24 April 16, 2020 13:07 UTC