WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the U.S. economy, nearly 3.2 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims in the week ending May 2, the Department of Labor reports. Since mid-March, 33 million citizens have filed for first-time unemployment. The Department of Labor also reports that, despite the overall rise in claims, the week-to-week numbers have declined for five consecutive weeks. The most recent figure shows 677,000 fewer claims than the week ending April 25. The four-week moving average was nearly 4.2 million, a decrease of 861,500 from the previous week’s revised average.
As of this writing, there were 73,431 deaths and more than 1.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).