Latest US jobs shake out of 5 million suggests unemployment already at 17%

Latest shake out hints US jobless rate is at 17%

The latest figures suggest a US unemployment rate currently around at least 17% - far above the 10% the US reached in the wake of the recession

The jobs shakeout is so large that it has wiped out all the American job gains since the financial crisis of over a decade ago and suggests that unemployment there has already soared to 17%.

The latest figures show that more than 5m Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total in the month since the pandemic throttled the US economy to 22m and effectively erasing a decade worth of job creation.