More than a million Americans join the army of the unemployed in the United States in one week

Washington-SANA

The US Department of Labor announced today that more than a million people have applied for unemployment benefits within a week, in evidence of the continuing impact of the Corona pandemic that threatens jobs.

The Associated Press quoted the US Labor Department as saying in today's data that the total number of new applications for unemployment benefits, adjusted in light of seasonal factors, amounted to 1,006 million for the week ending August 22nd.

The ministry indicated that more than 14.5 million Americans receive traditional unemployment benefits, up from 1.7 million a year ago, indicating that many American families rely on unemployment checks to survive.

The chief US economist, Rubella Farooqi, said in a commentary that the ongoing layoffs that we are seeing in many companies reflect interruptions in activities due to the inability to contain the virus, which is likely to lead to permanent closures and job losses.

"The risks of permanent damage to the labor market are still high, which will slow the pace of recovery ... and it is possible that a return to prosperity levels before the spread of the epidemic will be an uncertain and long-term process," Farooqi added.

The United States has not experienced job losses on this scale since the Great Depression of the 1920s.