The number of applications for unemployment benefits in the United States sets records

According to the US Department of Labor, in the first week of April, the number of initial applications for unemployment benefits fell by 261 thousand from the previous week's revised figure of 6.867 million and amounted to 6.606 million. In just the last three weeks, applications for this social payment came from 16.7 million people.

From March 2019 to March 2020, the total number of applications filed was only 11.5 million.

Analysts had expected a decrease in the number of applications of 1.398 million from the previous week's previous level of 6.648 million.