Analysis: Job claims soar, increasing by 3.3 million

It is no surprise to anyone that the unemployment numbers are going to skyrocket, but this one was above expectations.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor figures posted April 2 at dol.gov, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was nearly 6.65 million, an increase of an increase of 3.3 million from the previous week's revised level of 3.3 million.

This is an enormous number and isn't surprising to many analysts or Americans.

But the consensus was this number most likely was going to be lower. According to CNBC figures, the estimates actually all were below the expectations of major analysts and banks.

Bottom line, as we can see from this week's and last week's numbers — both of which significantly exceeded expectations — COVID-19 is taking an even larger toll on the U.S. workforce than initially feared.

Although the tire industry may be considered essential in the retail channel, we are seeing most of the other channels shutting down.

The full report is available at dol.gov website.

We are thankful to all of the frontline employees that continue to sacrifice and show up to work every day and encourage all retail and service businesses to maintain health and safety as the top priority.

Editor's note: Mike Cioffi is founder of TireTalent.com, an job site devoted to the tire and automotive service industry. This originally appeared as a blog entry on TireTalent.com