Weekly jobless claims fell to 3.8 million last week, the government reported Thursday, as the coronavirus shutdown continued to take a toll on the labor market.
The previous week’s jobless claims had been 4.4 million. Since the crisis began six weeks ago, about 30 million people have lost their jobs in the U.S.
President Trump said of the latest report, “It is what it is.”
“We just got hit by a vicious virus that should never have been allowed to escape China,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s just a very tough situation for the people of our country.”
He said the U.S. economy will begin a “very strong comeback” in the third quarter and will perform even better next year.
“I think we can actually surpass where we were,” Mr. Trump said.
The White House said the crisis in the labor market is the reason President Trump signed a $2.2 trillion rescue package on March 27 that included additional $600 weekly payments for the unemployed on top of the standard state benefits.
“Even though we had a booming economy just a few short weeks ago, these are challenging times for all Americans and today’s unemployment claims reflect that,” the White House said. “The Trump administration has worked with all 50 states to ensure they are now delivering the additional weekly unemployment benefit guaranteed when the president signed the CARES Act.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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