glegorly/iStock(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — An additional 2,123,000 Americans filed for unemployment in the week ending May 23, according to date released this morning by the U.S. Labor Department.
That brings to more than 40 million the total number of people who have filed for unemployment in the ten weeks since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and businesses began closing and subsequently laying off employees as a result.
The 2.123 million new filings is down 323,000 from the previous week’s revised numbers, which themselves were adjusted up by 8,000, to 2.446 million.
Unemployment filings don’t necessarily signify the number of jobs lost — the U.S. unemployment rate currently stands at 14.7%, based on data from April, but most economists expect that number may exceed 20% when the jobless numbers for May are released next week.
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