OREANDA-NEWS. The number of initial applications for unemployment benefits in the United States over the past eight weeks, or since the introduction of restrictive measures in connection with the new coronavirus - from March 15 to May 9 - exceeded 36 million.

This is evidenced by data released on Thursday by the US Department of Labor. According to the agency, from May 3 to 9, 2.98 million Americans applied for the payment of such benefits. Experts previously expected this figure to be 2.5 million people.

Earlier it was reported that in the week ending April 25, the number of calls was, according to revised data, 3.846 million. Earlier it was reported 3.839 million. Over the past 7 weeks, the total number of people who applied for US unemployment benefits has reached 33 million, MarketWatch notes. On Friday, the US Department of Labor is due to release official unemployment data in April.