30 million have filed jobless claims
Another 3.84 million Americans filed new unemployment claims during the week of April 19, according to the Department of Labor. When added to the more than 26 million claims already filed since mid-March, the total jobless applications tied to the pandemic exceeds 30 million. States continue to struggle to address the tens of millions of claims, which have exceeded anything seen before. Adding to the backlog is the complexity of adding unemployment benefits from the federal government to those already provided by the states.