Another 4.4M added to US unemployment rolls, 41K in Nevada

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Labor Department said 4.4 million more people filed for unemployment benefits last week, after nearly 22 million applied for aid in the previous four weeks. It represents by far the largest streak of U.S. job losses on record.

There were 4,427,000 initial claims for unemployment, down 810,000 from a week ago.

The number of intial claims in Nevada dropped an estimated 30 percent from the previous week to 40,909 for the week that ended April 18.

Personal finance technology firm MoneyGeek projected Thursday that 395,700 people will be unemployed in the greater Las Vegas area — an unemployment rate of 34 percent — when the coronavirus hits its peak. The company aggregated national unemployment forecasts and projected local unemployment based on federal data of 35 employment sectors.

Over the past five weeks, more than 26 million people have filed for unemployment, effectively wiping out all jobs created since the Great Recession in 2008.

Throughout the economy, nonessential businesses have closed, although some governors have begun easing restrictions despite warnings from health authorities that it may be too soon to do so without sparking new coronavirus infections.

For April, some economists say the unemployment rate could reach as high as 20 percent. That would be the highest jobless rate since the Great Depression, when it reached 25 percent.

Layoffs have spread throughout the economy, from front-line service industries like restaurants, hotels and retail stores to white collar and professional occupations.

Review-Journal staff writer Subrina Hudson contributed to this report.