Jobless Claims Surpass 40 Million in 10 Weeks

Jobless claims across the U.S. continue to rise at rates not seen since the Great Depression, and with another two million claims filed for the week ending May 23, the total number has climbed above 40 million in just 10 weeks.

Another 2.1 million jobless claims were filed across the country last week, making the total 10-week count come out to around 40.8 million claims. Filings are continuing at a high pace as the government expands the list of eligible benefits, but with state governments struggling to keep up with hundreds of thousands of claims, some experts suspect there are many more looking to file than are being recorded.

Most states are rapidly beginning to ease social distancing restrictions despite health experts cautioning that the death rate in the country could spike again. President Trump and his administration are telling states to be safe while at the same time nudging them to open sooner rather than later.

The U.S. has surpassed 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, which is ahead of many revised estimates predicting that number would be reached sometime in June.