U.S. | Sky-high unemployment claims confirm significant damage to economic activity

March’s employment report will not capture the bulk of the shock. However, if current trends continue, nonfarm payroll will decline significantly in April and the unemployment rate could reach more than 12%, which would outstrip the record-high of 10.8% in 1982.

Key points

• Key points:
• Unemployment insurance weekly claims reached 6.65M in the week ending March 28, the highest level in the history
• This was also significantly higher than the previous record-high of 695K in October 1982

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