The number of Americans filing first time unemployment claims dropped slightly last week, to an elevated number of 751,000, demonstrating that the coronavirus pandemic continues to cause havoc on the nation’s businesses.
According to a report released by the Department of Labor, more than 21 million Americans received some type of unemployment benefit during the week, nearly 15 times the number that applied at the same time last year.
The 21 million people represents 13.4% of the civilian workforce.