US Initial Jobless Claims: Devastating report – RBC

New unemployment insurance claims skyrocketed to 6.65 million last week while current unemployment rate nearing 10%, 2009's high, Josh Nye from the Royal Bank of Canada reports.

Key quotes

“Jobless claims came in well above expectations with another 6.65 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance last week, building on what was already a record 3.31 million claims in the prior week.”

“Those 10 million people represent about 6% of the US labour force, suggesting the current unemployment rate is near the last recession's high water mark of 10%. And layoffs are likely to continue in the coming weeks.”