News by the Numbers: June 1–7
Stacker distills the week's news from around the world into key facts and figures. Click through to read more about some of the biggest headlines of the last week.
1.9 million more file for unemployment
An additional 1.9 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, according to the Department of Labor, bringing the 11-week total to nearly 43 million. This marks the ninth week unemployment totals have fallen week-over-week.
Unemployment rate fell to 13.3%
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3% in May from 14.7% in April, according to the monthly jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, the BLS indicated that the rate is off by roughly three percentage points due to a “misclassification error,” and should be closer to 16.3%.
2.5 million jobs added in May
The monthly BLS jobs report also indicated that 2.5 million jobs were added to the economy in May. Restaurants and bars, which have slowly begun to reopen, account for 1.4 million of that total, with smaller gains in construction, retail, manufacturing, and health care as the economy increases working capacity.
Nearly 700K confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil
As COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise in Brazil, which has a total of nearly 700,000 confirmed cases, the country’s government removed comprehensive coronavirus data from its Health Ministry website over the weekend. Robust data showing the virus’ spread over time has been replaced with a less contextual daily tally from the previous 24 hours. Brazilian President Jair Bolosanaro has downplayed the severity of the virus and asserted that previous data was manipulated and inflated.
Global COVID-19 deaths surpass 400K
COVID-19 deaths around the world surpassed 400,000 last week, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
9 city council members in favor of disbanding the Minneapolis Police Department
Nine members of the 12-person Minneapolis City Council—a veto-proof majority—announced their intent to disband the Minneapolis Police Department this weekend. Similar disbandings have happened in Camden, New Jersey, in 2012, and Compton, California, in 2000.
8 states, DC, and Guam held primaries
Last week, eight states including Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and the District of Columbia held primary elections. It was announced over the weekend that Biden secured the Democratic nomination for president with 1,922 delegates.
