The number of newly unemployed people in the US has jumped by more than 30 million over the past six weeks, new figures reveal.
The Labor Department stats show 18.6 per cent of the US workforce has now filed for unemployment, and experts predict it could rise further to 20 per cent.
Last week saw 3.8 million more people file for unemployment benefits, adding to the more than 26 million people that had done so since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
The pace of the layoffs seems to be slowing: the peak of job losses was during the week ending 28 March, where more than 6.8 million people filed for unemployment.
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