Another 3.2 million file claims nationally
By Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois
jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com

Another 3.2 million Americans filed for unemployment during the week ending May 2, including more than 74,476 Illinoisans.
That brought the total number of insured unemployed for the week to 697,443 in Illinois, according to the U.S. Department of Labor estimates, while the total number of jobless claims since mid-March grew to 33.3 million nationwide. The numbers represent roughly 11 percent of Illinois’ civilian labor force and 15 percent of the nation’s workforce.
The numbers continue to grow while states around the country contemplate the best plan for reopening their economies as the novel coronavirus pandemic appears to be in the middle of a plateau.
Gov. JB Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan, which he says is backed by science and epidemiologists, has faced criticism from Republican lawmakers for moving too slowly to get the state working again.
“Until we have a vaccine or an effective treatment or enough widespread immunity that new cases fail to materialize, the option of returning to normalcy doesn’t exist,” Pritzker said in unveiling the plan Tuesday. “That means we have to learn how to live with COVID-19 until it can be vanquished.”     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.