News

The Graphic Truth: US jobless claims stay sky high

US new jobless claims stayed sky high this week as coronavirus-related quarantine orders continue to force layoffs. Some 6.6 million people applied for unemployment in the last week alone, bringing the total number of fresh jobless claims to more than 16 million since mid-March. Economists expect the unemployment rate to soar from a 50-year low of 3.5 percent in February to 15 percent or higher in the near term. How does that compare with the jobless rate during the Great Depression or the Great Recession? Have a look.

More For You

Iran war threatens water access in Middle East
Natalie Johnson, Eileen Zhang

As missiles fly and oil prices soar, the Iran war is exposing another major resource vulnerability in the Middle East: water. Fresh water has been a scarce commodity in a region defined by a dry climate and low rainfall, but attacks on the region’s desalination plants, which convert seawater into drinking water, threaten to open a new front.