US: Coronavirus drives 6.65 million to file unemployment benefits

With stores and offices closed nationwide, US job losses are soaring

Another 6.65 million US workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, the most ever recorded, as the coronavirus forces businesses to shut down nationwide, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The number of first-time applications for jobless benefits for the week ended March 28 was double the amount registered in the previous week, which was revised up by 24,000 to 3.3 million -- the previous record, according to the data.