Another 4.4m Americans claimed unemployment benefits last week with the total number of jobless claims reached 26.4m in mid-March.
26.4m claims amounts to more than 15% of the workforce, whilst recent data shows that claims have declined.
Richard Flynn, UK managing director at financial service firm Charles Schwab said, “While this week’s 4.4m jobless claims are staggering, there are signs that the pace of layoffs has reached its peak.
“The key questions at this point are when can the economy reopen and what happens when it does?”
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the US economy is expected to contract by 5.9% during 2020.
The US government has approved more than $2trn in rescue funds and have expand the eligibility for benefits and have increased payments.
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