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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

U.S. jobless claims hit 6.6 million

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U.S. jobless claims hit 6.6 million
U.S. jobless claims hit 6.6 million

A staggering 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week.

As Fred Katayama reports, that data came out just as the Fed unveiled a $2.3 trillion effort to aid local governments and small businesses.

Unemployment is exploding in the U.S. A whopping 6.6 million Americans filed for jobless benefits last week.

That marks the second straight week that unemployment claims have topped the 6 million mark amid the health crisis that has kept businesses shut and people at home.

And with the previous week's tally revised upward, the three-week total has surpassed 15 million - a development without precedent in U.S. history.

The latest data underscores economists’ projections that job losses could amount to 20 million in April and their conviction that the economy is already in a deep recession.

As that data was being released, the Fed announced a massive $2.3 trillion effort to aid local governments and small and mid-sized businesses.

He said the Fed would work to have banks offer 4-year loans to companies that employ up to 10,000 people.

The move aims to bolster small and mid-sized businesses to keep intact an economy that has been battered by the health crisis.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell: SOUNDBITE: JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE (ENGLISH) SAYING: "The principal focus is on these lending programs and making sure that credit does flow in the economy.

We saw what happens when the credit system breaks.

It can really inflict much greater damage on the economy.

We’re doing everything we can to avoid that.” That aid couldn't come fast enough, for the breadth of shuttered businesses has expanded beyond bars and restaurants to transportation and factories.

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