Weekly jobless claims dip slightly to 2.12 million, total job losses top 40 million

More than 2.12 million Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, as the 10-week total of job losses from the coronavirus shutdowns topped 40 million.

The weekly total was down slightly from 2.44 million the previous week. The highest total was the week ending March 27, when 6.87 million people filed for unemployment benefits.