The U.S. Labor Department announced on Thursday that requests for unemployment benefits jumped by 1.48 million between the months of May and June, pushing overall jobless claims to an eyepopping 47 million across the country.
The new claims brought the total since the business shutdowns began in mid-March to more than 47.2 million, while the insured unemployment rate indicating people actually receiving benefits dropped half a point to 13.4 percent in the week ended June 13.
The unemployment number is mostly the result of the coronavirus epidemic, which has ravaged the US economy as members of the public and private sector struggle to adjust to the realities of the ongoing health crisis.