Unemployment in the United States claims to jump to 2.5-year-high; coronavirus blamed
US jobless
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits surged to a 2.5-year-high last week, suggesting a pickup in layoffs as the coronavirus pandemic fractures economic activity.
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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped 70,000 to a seasonally adjusted 281,000 for the week ended March 14, the highest level since September 2017, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for the prior week was unrevised.
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Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims would increase to 220,000 in the latest week. The Labor Department attributed the jump in claims to COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.
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"A number of states specifically cited COVID-19 related layoffs, while many states reported increased layoffs in service-related industries broadly and in the accommodation and food services industries specifically, as well as in the transportation and warehousing industry, whether COVID-19 was identified directly or not," it said.
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