US weekly jobless claims to 4.4 million, bringing the total to more than 26 million

Learn How to File for Unemployment Insurance

Unemployment has remained elevated by 4.4 million Americans in the week ending April 18, The Department of Labor reported on Thursday. That brings the total to roughly 26.5 million jobless people.

Workers are filed for unemployment insurance amid the coronavirus pandemic, for the fifth week in a row. This is more than the worst week of job losses seen in the 2009 recession.

“It’s crushing, it’s devastating for the economy,” Jason Thomas, chief economist at AssetMark told Business Insider.

The unemployment filings last week are almost six times higher than the 665,000 who filed for unemployment in March 2009, the worst week during the Great Recession.

[READ MORE…]

Read more about: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pandemics, U.S.