May 7, 2020 / JIM ZARROLI
Updated at 8:43 a.m. ET
Another 3.2 million people filed for unemployment for the first time last week, bringing the total number of jobs lost during the coronavirus crisis in the last seven weeks to at least 33.5 million.
Last week’s number was down from the nearly 3.9 million initial claims filed the week ending April 25, and filings have fallen for five weeks in a row.
The claims numbers come one day before the release of the April jobs report, which is expected to show a staggering jump in unemployment to around 16%.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected that unemployment, which hit 4.4% in March, will average nearly 14% during April, May and June. Moody’s Investors Service predicts it will rise to 15% during the quarter.
