U.S. jobless claims soar by 6.6 million amid unemployment crisis felt in Texas, New Mexico & the Borderland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. unemployment claims hit 6.6 million -- another record high -- as layoffs accelerate in face of coronavirus.
The bleak news released Thursday by U.S. Department of Labor of 6.6 million new unemployment claims comes on top of 3.3 million last week.
The virus outbreak has now thrown nearly 10 million Americans out of work in just two weeks, in the swiftest, most stunning collapse the U.S. job market has ever witnessed, and economists warn unemployment could reach levels not seen since the Depression, as the economic damage from the crisis piles up around the world.
The number of Texans filing for unemployment has soared 1,600% in two weeks. Last week alone, 275,597 out-of-work Texans filed for unemployment relief.
The week ending March 21 saw the first spike of the pandemic, with 155,657 out-of-work Texans applying for relief. Both numbers are miles higher than the worst week of the Great Recession, which saw 49,398 Texans file for benefits.
The surge of Texans trying to file unemployment insurance claims in recent weeks has jammed the Texas Workforce Commission's phone lines and overloaded website servers as the agency is swamped by the crush of sudden need.
In New Mexico, more than 28,000 residents have applied for unemployment benefits -- over 50% more than the amount filed the previous record week.
The labor department report said 28,182 people in the state applied for unemployment benefits last week compared to record 17,187 the week before. That's a 55.7% increase.
Workforce Solutions Borderplex reported almost 13,000 new claims in two weeks in the El Paso area as the virus pandemic spreads.
The initial unemployment crisis is hitting El Paso’s low-paid workers the hardest, with roughly 3,200 claims filed by restaurant workers who make an average wage of just over $300 a week.
The east side zip codes of 79936, 79938, 79928 were among the most heavily impacted by new joblessness, representing three of the top four claimant zip codes for the month of March.
Workforce Solutions Borderplex has created this stunning chart below documenting the sudden rise in unemployment; it breaks down first-time unemployment claims in the El Paso region.
