美国有线新闻 CNN 美国首次申请失业救济人数328.3万人 创历史新高

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The U.S. Department of Labor¹ says last week initial jobless claims spiked² to 3.28 million. Here's what that means. According to Investopedia, this is the number of people who asked the government for unemployment benefits because they've lost their jobs in layoffs³ or business cutbacks. If they meet the requirements for getting help, the government will pay part of their income for a limited amount of time. And initial jobless claims counts those who request these benefits for the first time. The Labor Department's been keeping track of this statistic⁴ since 1967.

It's a major indication of how the U.S. economy is doing. And this is the first time that initial jobless claims have ever increased by 3.28 million.

The previous record in 1982 was less than 700,000. So this reflects how quickly the coronavirus pandemic has caused businesses to temporarily shutdown in most American industries. The silver lining⁵ is the word temporarily. Yes, economists⁶ are expecting millions of job losses in the weeks ahead. But they also expect the economy to get better later this year as the spread of COVID-19 slows down.

And U.S. Treasury⁷ Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the surge in unemployment claims was recorded before Congress passed an economic stimulus⁸ bill which he said would help. Workers on the front lines of this pandemic are being hailed as heroes. We told you how people in several countries are applauding healthcare providers. Now some grocery store employees are being recognized for their risks and hard work.