Scale of US economic devastation laid bare as 30m file for unemployment

The devastating impact of coronavirus on the US economy was laid bare by new figures on Thursday which showed that 30 million people have filed for unemployment benefits in the past six weeks.

The department of labour reported 3.8 million new applications for unemployment benefits in the week ended April 24th, as businesses across the country shut down in the face of the global pandemic.

The jobless claims were announced a day after GDP figures showed that the US economy shrunk by 4.8 per cent in the first three months of the year as the pandemic began to shut businesses in March.

A much larger contraction is expected in the second quarter of the year, as the full impact of the collapse of much of the US economy is registered.

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The dire economic figures were published amid continuing debate in the US about reopening the economy in the face of a pandemic that has killed more than 60,000 people across America.

Expire

Several states with stay-at-home orders that were due to expire on Thursday were expected to begin lifting restrictions from Friday. In Texas, the governor is permitting restaurants, cinemas and museums to reopen with 25 per cent capacity. Other states including Maine and Alabama were also poised to permit some businesses to resume limited activity.

But the governor of California was said to be considering closing beaches following widespread concern over pictures of packed beaches in the Los Angeles area last weekend.

Speaking in the White House, New Jersey's governor Phil Murphy – the latest governor to meet with Mr Trump in recent days – said that the financial hit to his state could be between $20 billion and $30 billion, as he pleaded for federal aid.

“This is to allow us to keep firefighters, teachers, police, EMS [emergency medical services] on the payroll serving the communities in their hour of need,” he said.

Senior Republicans – including Mr Trump and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell – have questioned whether the federal government should bail out states, as discussion turns to another economic rescue plan on Capitol Hill.

Protective mask

Meanwhile, following widespread criticism for not wearing a protective mask during a visit to the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday, vice-president Mike Pence donned a mask as he toured a GM factory in his home state of Indiana on Thursday which has begun making ventilators.

“You’re making a difference for America,” Mr Pence told one employee as he toured the floor.

Mr Trump, who has not left the White House in several months, has indicated he may travel outside the capital next week, with an event scheduled in Arizona on Tuesday, followed by a possible trip to Ohio.

In an interview with Reuters, Mr Trump also said that he believes that China "will do anything it can" to make him lose November's presidential election. He said he had "a lot" of options to punish China, which he has consistently blamed as the source of the coronavirus.

“There are many things I can do. We’re looking for what happened,” he told the news agency.