Three Million Jobless Claims

A sobering economic number is out this morning: Americans displaced by the coronavirus crisis filed unemployment claims in record numbers last week, with the Labor Department reporting a surge to 3.28 million new filers.

That number shatters the Great Recession peak of 665,000 from March 2009, as well as the all-time mark of 695,000 in October 1982. The number for the previous week, which reflected the period before the worst of the coronavirus hit, was 282,000.

But the news isn't all bad. The House is expected to pass a $2 trillion stimulus bill, already approved by the Senate, tomorrow morning, which should help ameliorate the job losses. Putting everything together, the market is happy about these moves, with stocks moving higher in early trading this morning.