2.1 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, bringing the total to over 40 million

An additional 2.1 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment last week, as the effects of the global pandemic continue to reverberate through the nation's economy. 

In the 10 weeks since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, 40 million Americans have lost their jobs. That figure accounts only for the people who qualify for unemployment benefits, which is likely far from the real number of Americans whose source of income has all but disappeared in the past three months. 

Businesses have begun to reopen across the country, as phase one reopenings roll out and Americans try to return to some semblance of normal life. The 2.1 million number, though stark, is down significantly from the record 6.9 million unemployment figure seen at the end of March.

It is still a long road to recovery for the American economy, and with six to eight Americans in search of a job for every job opening available, the labor market will remain slack for now. But, for the first time since the jobs decline began, the actual unemployment benefits weekly number fell below what economists were anticipating.