April 2, 2020—The Department of Labor reported more than 3 million people filed for unemployment from March 15-21, as reported by The New York Times.
This week's number, which reflects claims filed last week could rise close to 5.5 million. Morgan Stanley estimates that claims will rise to 4.5 million in tomorrow’s report; Goldman Sachs’s estimate is 5.5 million.Searches for 'file for unemployment" were up 62 percent from the week before.
State resources have been severely strained with astronomical levels of interest from recently laid-off workers, leading to long wait times, nonworking websites and jammed phone lines, according to the report.
In normal times and during recessions, forecasts of unemployment filings has performed poorly because there have been firings and hirings every day but the difference this time is that there has been very little hiring to replace the losses.
