US jobless claims hit record 6.6 million as Covid-19 ravages economy – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, including a truly awful US jobless reportNewsflash: US initial jobless claims hit record6.6 million people signed on last weekExperts: It’s a dreadful reportEarlier:One in four UK firms cut staff levelsCough medicine prices up 10% last weekCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage 2.46pm BST The record surge in US jobless claims has worried investors – and reminded them that the world economy is entering a dangerous slump.Hopes of a rebound rally on Wall Street have fizzled out, with the Dow Jones industrial average currently down 49 points or 0.24% at 20,893. 2.37pm BST Today’s US jobless claims report was worst than the more dire forecasts. That’s a bad sign.Usually, economists make a range of informed estimates, which gives us a median prediction. Now, sometimes that average doesn’t prove too accurate. But it’s unusual for even the gloomiest forecast to undershoot reality.“Today’s jobless claims report is troubling not just because it was record-breaking but also because it easily exceeded pessimistic consensus estimates.This is disconcerting because it indicates that after a month in crisis, U.S. businesses and investors are still struggling to discern the basic contours of the economic fallout of coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading…
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