Washington DC | An estimated 2.1 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week despite the gradual reopening of businesses around the country, bringing the running total since the coronavirus shutdowns took hold in mid-March to about 41 million, the government said Thursday.

The figures underscored the continuing damage to businesses and livelihoods from the outbreak that has now killed at least 100,000 people in the US, more than the number of Americans lost in the Vietnam and Korean wars combined, and more than 33 times the death toll on 9/11.

AAP