US Jobless Claims Climb to 30 Million in 6 Weeks

US Jobless Claims Climb to 30 Million in 6 Weeks The Labor Department released the tally of the most recent jobless claims on Thursday.

First-time claims for the week ending on April 25 increased by more than 3.84 million.

This exceeded economists' expectations, who had predicted an increase of 3.5 million.

Continuing claims have now reached almost 18 million, up 2.2 million from the week before.

The numbers reflect the worst unemployment crisis in U.S. history.

Economists are expecting the 4.8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of the first quarter to be much lower once the numbers have been revised.

They predict that second quarter GDP numbers will reflect the worst decline in the history of the U.S. U.S. deaths caused by coronavirus now outnumber U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War.

In less than three months, more than a million people in the U.S. have contracted the virus.