US weekly jobless claims hit 4.4 million, bringing the 5-week total to more than 26 million
- The Labor Department reported on Thursday that 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance last week.
- That brings the five-week total to roughly 26.5 million.
- It’s also the fifth week in a row in which jobless claims have been in the millions, dwarfing the worst stretch of job losses during the Great Recession.