A closed sign at a retail store in Chicago, Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Evidence of the devastating impact of the coronavirus on the U.S. economy has been steadily emerging, and the evidence is ominous. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Another 141,049 people in Illinois filed for unemployment last week, the third of an unprecedented period of jobless claims, although the number represented a 30% drop from the previous record-setting week.
The preliminary figure from the U.S. Labor Department accompanied 5.2 million filing claims nationwide as the closing of nonessential businesses because of the spread of the coronavirus continues to buffet the economy.
The national total over the last month stretched to 22 million, the largest streak on record. The state total was down from a record-setting 201,041 the week of April 4, which in turn broke the mark set the week before that of 178,421. Previously, the high mark in Illinois was just 25,800 on Jan. 9, 1982.
