3.2 Million Workers Filed Unemployment Claims Last Week

Last week 3.2 million workers filed unemployment claims, easing from the peak since the coronavirus triggered U.S. shutdowns but marking the seventh week of record applications.

Nearly 33.5 million applications for unemployment benefits have been filed since mid-March, according to the Labor Department, in the seven weeks since authorities widely began ordering businesses to close to combat the spread of the virus. Prior to March, fewer than 700,000 claims were filed weekly in records back to 1967.

Applications filed for the week ended May 2, were the fewest since the March 14 week, before the pandemic caused claims to spike, according to Thursday’s report. There were 3.8 million claims filed in the April 25 week. Claims in recent weeks have been about half the peak of 6.9 million touched in late March.

The recent jobless claims figures suggest the wave of unemployment caused by the pandemic could crest as soon as this month. Still, the layoffs that already occurred are likely to cause the April unemployment rate, due out Friday, to jump to a high on records back to 1948 from a 50-year low as recently as February.

“The decline has been sharp, which raises the possibility that we reached the bottom quickly,” Michael Moran, an economist at Daiwa Capital Markets, said. He said he expects the peak of unemployment triggered by the pandemic to occur in April or May, noting that most nonessential businesses have already closed and there are signs the virus’s spread is easing in some areas. “Parts of the economy are already starting to reopen,” he said.

Layoffs grew at a pace not seen on records dating back to 1967 earlier this spring, when states mandated shutdowns of large parts of the economy. The orders swiftly closed restaurants, hotels and sports stadiums, then spilled over to nonessential medical offices, construction sites, government operations and white-collar jobs.