Another 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. That brings the total since widespread business shutdowns began in mid-March to 26.5 million.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus.html?type=styln-live-updates&label=markets&index=0&action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

The good news, such as it is, is that claims are clearly now falling (though still at a level completely unprecedented before this crisis). Could also be notable that the prior week was revised down a hair.

Those numbers are seasonally adjusted. On an unadjusted basis (arguably more appropriate given how the speed of this crisis has thrown the adjustment formulas out of whack), 24.4 million people have filed for benefits since this began.

For context, the past five weeks of claims are as bad as any *40-week* period before this. That is, we've lost as many jobs in a month as in the worst nine months of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

And keep in mind that claims don't capture the full picture of people who have lost their jobs, as I laid out in more detail in this thread from a few weeks back: https://twitter.com/bencasselman/status/1243147516784324608

For the full story, including the ongoing challenge of filing for benefits, see @PatcohenNYT's story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/business/economy/unemployment-claims-coronavirus.html?smid=tw-share