The Department of Labor said Thursday that 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment claims last week as efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus continue to slow the economy.
The new figures mean that about 16 million people have applied for unemployment in the past three weeks.
According to the Associated Press, the unemployment rate has risen to 10 percent.
According to the Department of Labor, California alone saw an increase of more than 800,000 unemployment claims for the week ending March 28. New York, Michigan, Florida, Georgia and Texas also saw unemployment claims increase by more than 100,000.
On March 26, the department reported that a stunning, record-shattering 3.3 million people sought initial unemployment claims. A week later, that figure doubled to 6.6 million. Those numbers, combined with the newly released figures from the Labor Department, add together to make 16 million initial claims.
The Department of Labor's announcement came the same day that the Federal Reserve announced it would provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy. The Fed will provide loans to government programs, like the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program and the Main Street Lending Program in the hopes of providing some liquidity to small businesses.
Quarantines meant to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic have slowed the economy to a halt.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has plummeted more than 6,000 points since its record high of 29,000 in February. However, the Dow has actually rallied in recent weeks and gained about 5,000 points since March 23. The Dow finished up more than 700 points on Wednesday.
