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3.3 million seek US jobless aid, nearly 5 times earlier high

Revenue has collapsed at restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, gyms and airlines amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Credit: AP
FILE - In this March 17, 2020 file photo, people wait in line for help with unemployment benefits at the One-Stop Career Center in Las Vegas. A record-high number of people applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs engulfed the United States in the face of a near-total economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus. The surge in weekly applications for benefits far exceeded the previous record set in 1982. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — A record-high number of people applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs engulfed the United States in the face of a near-total economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus. 

The surge in weekly applications for benefits far exceeded the previous record set in 1982. 

Layoffs are sure to accelerate as the U.S. economy sinks into what most economists expect to be a deep and painful recession. 

Revenue has collapsed at restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, gyms and airlines. 

Auto sales are plummeting, and carmakers have closed factories. 

Most such employers face loan payments and other fixed costs, so they're forced to cut jobs to save money. 

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