WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly 1.2 million laid-off Americans applied for state unemployment benefits last week, evidence that the coronavirus keeps forcing companies to slash jobs just as a critical $600 weekly federal jobless payment has expired.The Labor Department’s report Thursday marked the 20th straight week that at least 1 million people have sought jobless aid.
Before the pandemic hit hard in March, the number of Americans seeking unemployment checks had never surpassed 700,000 in a week, not even during the Great Recession of 2007-2009.The new jobless claims were down by 249,000 from the previous week after rising for two straight weeks.RELATED: Capitol negotiators still stuck, still trying on virus aidThe pandemic, the lockdowns meant.