Virus side effect: Michigan jobless claims already top 2019

Nearly 800,000 people have filed for unemployment benefits in Michigan since mid-March. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday detailed the stunning impact of the coronavirus on the state’s economy. Only businesses deemed essential remain open and Whitmer says her stay-at-home order will be extended in the coming days. She says more people have applied for unemployment aid in the last two weeks than in all of 2019, when the jobless rate was below 4%. Michigan finished the weekend with more than 15,700 coronavirus cases and 617 deaths, mostly concentrated in Detroit and the suburbs.  (AP)