US Jobless Claims Climb <br />to 30 Million in 6 Weeks The Labor Department <br />released the tally of the most recent <br />jobless claims on Thursday. First-time claims for the week <br />ending on April 25 increased by <br />more than 3.84 million. This exceeded economists' <br />expectations, who had predicted <br />an increase of 3.5 million. Continuing claims have <br />now reached almost 18 million, <br />up 2.2 million from the week before. The numbers reflect the <br />worst unemployment crisis <br />in U.S. history. Economists are expecting the <br />4.8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) <br />contraction of the first quarter to be <br />much lower once the numbers have been revised. They predict that <br />second quarter GDP numbers will reflect <br />the worst decline in the history of the U.S. U.S. deaths caused by <br />coronavirus now outnumber<br />U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War. In less than three months, <br />more than a million people in <br />the U.S. have contracted the virus.
