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The latest unemployment numbers are in, and the 6-week total has now reached 30.3 million people. According to a New York Times investigation, the numbers may be much higher.

The first week of April, the number of Americans applying for unemployment claims doubled from the week before, and that week was already a record-setting week!

Iconic department store Neiman Marcus is expected to file for bankruptcy protection as soon as this week as a result of the economic fallout from the COVID pandemic. The store already had debt before it was forced to shut its 43 locations, ultimately leading to the plans to file bankruptcy. This is the first department store to fall, but it seems likely that more will follow.

AMC Theaters is reportedly in talks with bankruptcy lawyers to manage its massive, $4.9 billion debt load. COVID has hit the theaters hard. Not only are state lockdowns and social distancing leaving theaters closed, when those measures are eased theaters will likely be the last places to open––and even then, they may run at half capacity. And then they have to deal with studies, which have pushed back productions and released films digitally.

COVID is ravaging the economy. A shocking 16 million Americans have lost their jobs the past few weeks. That puts the unemployment rate at around 13%, according to the New York Times. For comparison, the Great Depression was around 25%.

In the continuing economic fallout of the COVID epidemic, the S&P 500 is set for its worst first quarter since 1938. The U.S. government is passing economic stimulus packages, but all is not tell––the Post Office may have to close if it doesn’t get funding by June, and American Airlines has asked for $12 billion.

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