Minnesotans worry as weekly $600 unemployment benefit runs out

For the last few months, the federal government has been giving people who lost their jobs because of the pandemic an extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits. Now, hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans are on the edge of a financial cliff as those extra benefits run out.

1.5 million more laid-off workers seek unemployment benefits

About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that many Americans are still losing their jobs even as the economy appears to be slowly recovering with more businesses partially reopening.

Nearly 3.2 million more workers seek jobless aid

Roughly 33.5 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the seven weeks since the coronavirus began forcing millions of companies to close their doors and slash their workforces.