6.6 million Americans filed jobless claims last week

Jobless rolls continued to swell due to the coronavirus shutdown, with 6.6 million Americans filing first-time unemployment claims last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That brings the total claims over the past three weeks to more than 16 million. If you compare those claims to the 151 million people on payrolls in the last monthly employment report, that means the U.S. has lost 10% of the workflow in the three weeks. Moments after the jobless claims report was released, the Federal Reserve announced plans to inject another $2.3 trillion into business and revenue pinched governments. Stock futures jumped after the Fed's announcement. The ongoing surge in filings for unemployment insurance has been exacerbated by the expansion of those who can file a claim. The $2.2 trillion federal coronavirus relief bill enacted last month has expanded the group to include the self-employment and independent contractors. California, New York, and Michigan saw the largest increase in claims last week. Those states are also among the hardest fit from the coronavirus pandemic.