US workers file 1.4 million more jobless claims as crisis total tops 52 million

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The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits increased for the first time in almost four months to 1.4 million last week — a troubling signal that coronavirus recovery is stalling.

Workers have now filed more than 52 million initial jobless claims since layoffs spiked in mid-March, suggesting about a third of the American labor force has been sidelined at some point during the pandemic, according to the US Department of Labor figures released Thursday.