Virus layoffs top 45.7 mn as US economic distress persists

Layoffs caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the United States have passed 45.7 million, raising fears that, despite some positive signs, the economy faces a halting recovery from the downturn.

Another 1.5 million US workers filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labour Department said Thursday, a decrease of only 58,000 from the prior week and higher overall than analysts expected.

An additional 760,526 filed claims under a program for those who would not normally be eligible for benefits, while the insured unemployment rate showing people still receiving aid was unchanged as of the week ended June 6 at 14.1 percent, with 20.5 million people getting benefits.

"Based on this side of the firing and hiring equation, labor market improvement is muted," tweeted Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz.

The world's largest economy has seen a protacted downturn since businesses began closing in mid-March to stop the spread of the coronavirus, with the unemployment rate climbing to 13.3 percent in May and millions of layoffs reported each week.

- Claims 'still so high' -

The wave of jobless claims peaked in late March and has been decreasing ever...