New U.S. Department of Labor figures released Thursday morning show 5.2 million Americans filed weekly jobless claims last week, a decrease of 1,370,000 from the week before.
The new filings bring the crisis total to more than 22 million over the last four weeks, nearly wiping out all the job gains since the Great Recession.
Economists expected a fourth week of claims in the multi-millions, the result of the abrupt shutdown of the economy that started in the second half of March to stop the spread of coronavirus. In the prior three weeks, the number of claims totaled 16.8 million.
»COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS
With many factories shut down, American industrial output shriveled in March, registering its biggest decline since the nation demobilized in 1946 at the end of World War II. Retail sales fell by an unprecedented 8.7%, with April expected to be far worse.
The International Monetary Fund says fallout from what it calls the "Great Lockdown" will be the most devastating since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
That has made leaders all the more anxious to send people back to work and school and to rebuild economies devastated by the pandemic that has infected more than 2 million people and claimed more than 137,000 lives, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. began issuing one-time payments this week to tens of millions of people as part of its $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package.
But another part of the relief package, a $350 billion paycheck protection program aimed at small businesses, is running dry after being open for only a matter of days. Negotiations were accelerating in Washington over a $250 billion emergency request to help.
The U.S. has seen nearly 640,000 infections — more than the next four countries put together — and leads the world with nearly 31,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Experts say, however, the true toll of the pandemic is much higher due to limited testing, uneven counting of deaths and some governments' attempts to downplay their outbreaks.
»MORE: Trump easing virus restrictions on states as GOP pressure grows to reopen economy
Despite the relief checks, Americans have begun to protest the virus restrictions that have put at least 17 million out of work, closed factories and brought many small businesses to their knees.
In Michigan and Oklahoma, thousands came out to protest the virus lockdowns they say have destroyed livelihoods.
In Michigan, some were masked and armed with rifles, but many unmasked people defied stay-at-home orders and jammed nearly shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the Capitol building in Lansing. In Oklahoma, cars plastered with protest signs drove past the Statehouse in Oklahoma City: "All jobs are essential," read one sign on the back of a pickup truck.
"This arbitrary blanket spread of shutting down businesses, about putting all of these workers out of business, is just a disaster. It's an economic disaster for Michigan," said protester Meshawn Maddock.
In Michigan's northern Leelanau County, Sheriff Mike Borkovich said enforcing the coronavirus restrictions was taking a toll.
"People are frantic to get back to work. They have been very edgy," Borkovich told The Associated Press.
President Donald Trump said he's prepared new guidelines for easing social distancing, even as business leaders told him more testing and personal protective equipment were essential first.
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