More than 3 million file US jobless claims

More than 3 million workers filed first-time unemployment claims last week, the lowest level in a month, the US Labor Department reported Thursday.

But the total of 3.84 million was above the consensus estimate of 3.5 million for new jobless claims for the week ended April 25.

"The problem is bigger than the data suggest," Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington told The New York Times. "We're undercounting the economic pain."

A total of 30.3 million have filed claims in the last six weeks. Claims reached a record 6.87 million for the week of March 28 as companies across the nation closed in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, also called COVID-19.

The total number of unemployed is the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Many economists believe the second quarter will show the steepest decline in US history.

Some states have begun to restart the economy in stages but others, including New York, remain locked down.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the wave of unemployment claims is overwhelming the archaic computer systems in some states and some workers are unable to file in a timely manner.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported that the Gross Domestic Product – the value of all goods and services produced in a year – fell 4.8 percent in the first quarter. Revisions to the initial numbers may show a more severe decline.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the unemployment rate could rise above 10 percent from the March level of 4.4 percent that included the period before state governments ordered non-essential businesses to close as part of the effort to curb spread of the virus.

On April 23, the US Labor Department reported that about 26 million workers had filed unemployment claims in the previous five weeks.

But Bank of America raised its estimate to 4.0 million to 4.2 million for this week's jobless claims while economists at Barclays raised their forecast to 4 million from 3.25 million.

After reviewing local news reports, Bank of America said claims may have declined only 2.5 percent from the previous week. The analysts concluded that claims in 10 states and the District of Columbia could be a little higher than expected.

In Texas, Bank of America said it early data suggested that unemployment claims rose to 437,000 from 280,000 the week earlier. In New Jersey, claims appeared to increase to 200,000 from 139,000 the week before.