WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits rose again last week as backlogs in processing claims continue to be cleared and disruptions from the novel coronavirus unleash a second wave of layoffs, pointing to another month of staggering job losses in May.
FILE PHOTO: People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at an Arkansas Workforce Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, U.S. April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo
The Labor Department’s weekly jobless claims report, the most timely data on the economy’s health, showed a surge to a record high in the number of people on unemployment rolls, suggested that businesses were probably in no rush to rehire workers as they reopen.
A broad shutdown of the country in mid-March to contain the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, has resulted in the worst unemployment since the Great…
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