U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Hit 6.6 Million As COVID-19 Cases Climb

Daily Currency Update

USD - United States DollarU.S. unemployment claims as a critical early marker of just how deep and widespread the economic impact of the COVID19 pandemic will be. Last week 3.3 million people filed for unemployment with another 3.3 million filling claims, today's release should weekly jobless claims hit 6.6 million. As the coronavirus brings both domestic economies and the global economy to a grinding halt, another poor unemployment read will only highlight the expense that lays before governments in supporting their citizenry through this unprecedented crisis.The data published from the U.S. on Wednesday showed that the economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted at a softer pace than expected with the ISM Manufacturing PMI coming in at 49.1 to beat analysts' estimate of 45. Meanwhile, the ADP's monthly National Employment Report showed that the private sector employment in March declined by 27K. However, the press release clarified that this reading was not reflecting the full impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the labor market as it was based on payroll records through the 12th of the month.