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- A record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending March 21 as coronavirus-induced layoffs surge around the US.
- Some states have been hit harder than others, possibly because of individual orders to curb the spread of COVID-19.
- “Nearly every state providing comments cited the COVID-19 virus impacts,” the Labor Department wrote in the report released Thursday.
- Here’s the situation in every state.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Some states have been hit harder than others by massive layoffs amid the coronavirus pandemic. In the week ending March 21, a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits, nearly 12 times the number just a week before.
Every state posted an increase in unemployment filings in the same week, with some seeing drastic upticks in the number of people seeking benefits from the previous week.
"Nearly every state providing comments cited the COVID-19 virus impacts," the Labor Department wrote in the report released Thursday.
"States continued to cite services industries broadly, particularly accommodation and food services," according to the report. "Additional industries heavily cited for the increases included the health care and social assistance, arts, entertainment and recreation, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing industries."
Across the US, more than 20 states have either implemented stay-at-home orders encouraging people to go out only for essential activities such as picking up medicine, or have closed all nonessential businesses, shutting down bars, restaurants, casinos, and more. The measures have been put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
This week's data shows "social distancing measures that will save lives really happening across the country," Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institue told Business Insider. Last week's data showed upticks in states such as California, Washington, and Nevada - places that were hit hard at first, according to Shierholz.
But this week's report shows the broad impact of the coronavirus pandemic, said Shierholz. "We're seeing appropriately these measures being taken everywhere," she said.
