Record unemployment claims in the US

Data released from the US today shows the staggering scale of job losses in the first week since the government began urging citizens to stay home. 3.3m people filed a claim for unemployment benefits in the week ending Saturday, up from 282,000 the week before. This is the largest single-week rise in unemployment claims since records began being published over 50 years ago. Despite this news, US equities opened strongly, continuing the gains made over the last couple of trading sessions after the $2 trillion stimulus package was approved by the US Senate overnight.