We have few material numbers yet from companies or economies on the actual, bottom line business impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The repeatedly adjusted economic contraction estimates and revisions to guidance for companies - both always to the negative - results in, essentially almost all predictions before actual numbers posted being guesswork at best for these unprecedented circumstances.
Thursday's unemployment numbers reflect this stark reality well. The prior week's new seasonally adjusted unemployment claims, for the week ending on March 21, came in at 3.28 million, at the higher end of the 1-4 million