Indiana Tops 500,000 Job Losses Since COVID-19 Shutdowns

(UNDATED) — More than half a million people in Indiana have applied for unemployment benefits over the past five weeks as job losses mount across the country under the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak business restrictions, federal officials said Thursday.

Indiana had about 75,000 new jobless claims filed last week. While that’s down from the more than 110,000 claims filed each of the three previous weeks, the state was typically receiving fewer than 3,000 new claims a week before widespread business shutdowns started in mid-March.

Indiana has totaled about 515,000 jobless claims in the five-week period.

Roughly 26 million people, or about one in six American workers, have now filed for jobless aid over the five weeks.

Economists have forecast that the national unemployment rate for April could go as high as 20% – by far the worst string of layoffs on record.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has said he’s considering easing the business and travel restrictions in place under the statewide stay-at-home order that took effect March 25. Those modifications could vary across Indiana, and major changes will be done in collaboration with neighboring states, Holcomb said.