Donald Trump to push for reopening US as jobless claims top 5.2 million

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday plans to announce new guidelines to reopen the economy after a monthlong shutdown over the coronavirus outbreak, despite concerns from health experts, governors and business leaders about a resurgence in cases without more testing and protocols in place.

Trump announced his decision to push states to lift stay-at-home and other restrictions that were imposed last month to halt the spread of the highly contagious disease as the number of deaths in the United States approached 31,000 on Wednesday — more than any other nation.

States’ orders have also crushed the nation’s economy to levels not seen since the Great Depression nearly a century ago as a record more than 20 million Americans have sought unemployment benefits amid shuttered stores and restaurants, including another 5.2 million who filed for aid in the past week, pushing the US unemployment rate to 8.2%.


Thursday’s unemployment data comes on the heels of retail data one day earlier showing a record drop in sales and the lowest factory output since the end of the Second World War, further pressuring Trump, who had staked his re-election in November on the strength of the US economy.

On Wednesday, Trump said data suggested new cases have peaked and that industry leaders in a round of calls offered him good insights into how to safely restart the economy.