New unemployment numbers bring the total to over 30 million jobless Americans

New data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that 3.8 million Americans filed for unemployment claims last week. That's about half as many as were filing during the pandemic's peak, but still brings the total number of Americans who have lost their jobs since March to 30 million. 

Many states have a backlog of claims that still need to be processed. Some states have expanded their unemployment offices' hours to account for the significant increase in calls. 

One developing worry is that hospitals are running out of funds and may soon be forced to begin laying off workers or shutting down completely. Without a serious injection of cash very soon, hospitals around the country, which have been overrun and forced to cancel all scheduled surgeries for the past two months, will enter into a state of financial free-fall. 

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the unemployment rate during the second quarter will likely hit 14%. 

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released numbers indicating that the U.S. GDP had contracted 4.8% during the first quarter of 2020. 

The government is also expected to release figures today that illustrate a 7.5% decrease in consumer spending during the month of March.