Economic Impact of Covid-19 Crisis Being Felt Economically as More Than 3 Million Americans Filed for Unemployment Just Last Week

Just how devastating has the coronavirus crisis been these past two weeks or so?

Well, look at this recent bit of news: more than three million Americans filed for unemployment just last week alone!

This is at least partially in response to the lockdowns, and the limited mobility for many Americans, particularly in states that have begun to crack down on any and all unnecessary travel. Many businesses were forced to shut their doors at least temporarily, and it seems apparent that quite a number of them will not be able to reopen their doors for a long time. Perhaps in some cases, they will never open their doors again. That is how bad the economic crisis has been as a result of this.

The week before, by way of comparison, only 282,000 people had filed for unemployment, which is a mere fraction of the three million last week, according to the Department of Labor. 

Yet, experts are warning that this may just be the beginning:

Thursday's numbers are just "the tip of the iceberg," Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, said as she noted that these figures do not even include data from this week. 

"Businesses cannot plan for this kind of sudden stop of cash flow," she told NBC News. "This isn’t a 'rainy day fund' situation." 

Some of the most severely hit states are suffering the worst. That includes New York and New Jersey, the two states that currently have the most and the second most confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country. But recently, California had it bad, before they started a statewide lockdown. But it has come at a clear cost, as  according to Governor Gavin Newsom, jobless claims are increasing by more than 100,000 a day.

BUSINESS NEWS More than 3 million Americans filed for unemployment claims last week by Lucy Bayly, March 26, 2020:
"It's beyond anything we have ever seen. It’s the speed that is so painful," one economist said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/unemployment-claims-hit-3-million-last-week-n1169266?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR28v3R_hU3mRByazDPUYqWf84HXWVs7ATy1S7mQXAUXl0ORqLCNw-tuZ_E