Jobless claims jump 4.4 million in mid-May as applications for federal benefits surge
Economic Report
Published: May 21, 2020 at 8:42 a.m. ET
By Jeffry Bartash
Nearly 30 million people are getting unemployment compensation
The numbers: More than 4.4 million unemployed Americans applied for jobless benefits last week through the states or a temporary federal-relief program, reflecting persistent pressure on struggling companies to slash payrolls even as the U.S. economy slowly reopens for business.
Some 2.2 million people filed initial jobless claims through their state unemployment offices in the seven days ended May 16. And at least 2.2 million applied through the federal government’s temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, the Labor Department said Thursday.
MarketWatch for the first time is reporting jobless claims in raw or actual figures, foregoing the time-honored media practice of using seasonally adjusted numbers. The seasonal adjustments have overstated jobless claims by several million and are less relevant given the nature of a once-in-a-century pandemic. See this congressional report for a fuller explanation.
What happened: The historic pace of layoffs has tapered off since peaking at the end of March, but unemployment has already ballooned to the highest level since World War Two and is likely to get worse.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-jump-44-million-in-mid-may-as-applications-for-federal-benefits-surge-2020-05-21?mod=home-page
While this happening #Moscow Mitch is deciding to take a week off with pay and while having sit on his libertarian desk a bill passed by the House called the HEROES ACT, to give more relief to the people of this country that are on unemployment, and the narcissistic lunatic getting ready to do a photo-op in Michigan without a mask taking his malaria pill for one more day having reluctance to give anymore to the people that pay for his golf trips that he is itching to do with tax dollars, its the let them eat cake mentality.............. 
