Nearly 3.2 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the business shutdowns caused by the viral outbreak deepened the worst U.S. economic catastrophe in decades.

More than 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy slid further into a crisis that is becoming the most devastating since the 1930s.

More than 4.4 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week as job cuts escalated across an economy that remains all but shut down, the government said April 23.

The wave of layoffs that has engulfed the U.S. economy since the coronavirus struck forced 5.2 million more people to seek unemployment benefits last week, the government reported April 16.

A recordlong streak of U.S. job growth ended suddenly in March after nearly a decade as employers cut 701,000 jobs because of the viral outbreak that has all but shut down the U.S. economy.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve will sharply increase its purchases of short-term U.S. Treasury bonds to try to ease anxiety and disruptions in the financial markets over the coronavirus outbreak.

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices increased slightly last month, driven higher by more expensive food.

WASHINGTON — U.S. businesses added 183,000 jobs last month, a solid gain that shows the economy was largely healthy when the coronavirus outbreak spread farther around the globe.

WASHINGTON — Americans pulled back on their spending in January, even as their incomes surged, a sign the economy was growing modestly before the threat of coronavirus arose.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee saw much less risk of recession at its meeting in December, when it kept interest rates steady after three straight cuts and signaled that it expected to keep low rates unchanged through this year.