The actual number of unemployed in the United States may be much higher due to the fact that certain categories are not allowed to apply for benefits.
Over the past week, more than 3.2 million Americans made their first claim to unemployment benefits against the backdrop of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. This was announced by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, March 26.
“For the week ended March 21, the index of initial applications, taking into account seasonal fluctuations, was 3283000”, – – said in a statement of the department.
It is noted that this is more than four times the previous record of 695,000 applications in October 1982. The U.S. Department of Labor also noted that this is an increase of more than 1000% compared to the previous period.
According to The Washington Post, some Americans had to wait for hours for the authorities to accept their application by phone or even through the website. Many U.S. economists, the newspaper writes, believe that the recession in the country has already begun, and by April the number of unemployed will exceed 40 million people.
At the same time, the newspaper explains, the real number of unemployed may be much higher due to the fact that certain categories – self-employed, students, freelancers, recently changed jobs or moved to another state – are not allowed to apply for benefits.
It was previously reported that the U.S. Senate approved a $2 trillion aid package because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each adult American will receive $ 1200 aid, and $500 for minors. There is also a $500 billion credit program for businesses, states and cities.
As it is known, the number of victims of COVID-19 in the USA exceeded 1000 people. In recent days, the number of deaths in the country has tripled.