A total of 227,000 Floridians filed for unemployment last week.
That’s according to new figures from the U.S. Department of Labor and marks a more than 300 percent increase over the week before.
Nationwide, more than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, far exceeding a record high set just last week, a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus.
The job cuts are mounting against the backdrop of economies in the United States and abroad that have almost certainly sunk into a severe recession as businesses close across the world.
Last week's figure is much higher than the previous record of 3.3 million reported for the previous week.
The surging layoffs have led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April.
