Another 6.6 million Americans — including more than 270,000 in D.C., Maryland and Virginia — filed initial U.S. unemployment claims last week, extending the economic crisis related to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the 6.606 million applications for the week ending April 4 were down 261,000 from the record number of initial claims filed the week ending March 28. About 3.3 million filed initial claims for the week ending March 21, meaning more than 16 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the last three weeks of reporting.
Locally, 15,393 filed initial claims in the District for the week ending April 4 — down 476 from the previous week. In Maryland, 107,408 filed initial claims during that span, an increase of 22,091 from the previous week. And 149,758 filed initial claims in Virginia for an increase of 37,261 from the previous week.
Here’s the breakdown of initial unemployment claims in our local jurisdictions over the last three weeks of reporting:
D.C.: 44,735
Maryland: 234,615
Virginia: 309,140
