New unemployment claims in the U.S. have dropped, albeit only slightly.
In the week ending April 4, claims reached 6.606 million, more than anticipated but below the previous week’s amended count of 6.867 million, Deadline reports. The initial tally for that week had been 6.65 million.
California has been hit particularly hard. Like the previous week, it again had the highest number of claims with 925,450. The state saw the biggest growth from the previous week, ending in March 28, where its claims hit 871,992.
In the week ending April 4, California dominated the states with the next biggest claims, Michigan and New York, which respectively had 384,844 and 345,246. Sixteen million people have filed for unemployment over a three-week stretch during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the week ending March 21, U.S. unemployment hit a historic high, jumping to 3.28 million. Since the Department of Labor began tracking such data in 1967, the previous unemployment high had been in 1982, where claims peaked at 695,000 in October of that year. In the week ending March 28, the number of claims doubled, coming in at 6.65 million.
Economists forecast that the U.S. economy will fall into a recession during the second quarter and could see a recovery later in the year when the spread of coronavirus tapers off. Job loss has hit a number of industries, including theater chains, film and television productions, restaurants, and more.
