More than 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending March 28. That’s a record-breaking number of unemployment claims for the second week in a row, and way more than analysts were projecting for last week.
The actual number of claims was “more than double the estimate of 3.1 million analysts expected,” points out CNBC correspondent Eamon Javers. “The American job market is in free fall.”
In the two weeks ending March 28, 9.9 million people filed for unemployment benefits.
At the peak of Great Recession joblessness in 2010, “there were 7.7 million more officially unemployed people than before the downturn,” noted Atlantic writer Derek Thompson.”The labor market is contracting at the rate of one Great Recession per 10 days.”
Before March 2020, the highest number of unemployment claims filed in a single week was 695,000.
FREE MINDS
The company behind video game Call of Duty has emerged victorious after being sued by military contractor AM General, which objected to Call of Duty’s depiction of Humvees. Call of Duty parent company Activision said it was a First Amendment issue, and U.S. District Court Judge George B. Daniels agreed. “If realism is an artistic goal, then the presence in modern warfare games of vehicles employed by actual militaries undoubtedly furthers that goal,” the judge wrote. “The inclusions of Humvees in the foreground or background of various scenes …are integral elements of a video game because they communicate ideas through features distinctive to the medium.”
FREE MARKETS
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing vape company Juul, because even in the midst of a real pandemic, bureaucrats can’t stop targeting fake problems. The FTC alleges that Juul was not allowed to sell shares to tobacco company Altria and is accusing the company of violating antitrust law by letting Altria own a 35 percent share.
QUICK HITS
- We’re on track to become Italy soon, and the federal government’s “emergency stockpile of respirator masks, gloves and other medical supplies is running low and is nearly exhausted,” reports The Washington Post.
- American states are now having to import N95 face masks from China.
- Reminder:
The president doesn’t have constitutional authority to issue a national stay-at-home order, so please stop urging him to do so. He can recommend, but he doesn’t get to do whatever he wants, even in a crisis. That’s the law. That’s our Constitution. It exists to secure our rights.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) April 2, 2020
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
- Last night on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) indulged in a little conspiracy-mongering about Chinese students and studies on U.S. campuses.
- Joe Biden is calling for a delay of the Democratic National Convention, which is scheduled for mid-July.
- Will the D.C. region become the next coronavirus hotspot?
- A train operator drove his train off the tracks toward a naval hospital ship, which it barely came short of striking. The driver, Eduardo Moreno, allegedly told the FBI he had done it because he thought the ship had a secret nefarious purpose related to COVID-19.
- People are inexplicably still booking new cruise ship vacations.
Founded in 1968, Reason is the magazine of free minds and free markets. We produce hard-hitting independent journalism on civil liberties, politics, technology, culture, policy, and commerce. Reason exists outside of the left/right echo chamber. Our goal is to deliver fresh, unbiased information and insights to our readers, viewers, and listeners every day. Visit https://reason.com