Business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic caused another surge of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. 

First-time claims for jobless benefits hit 6.6 million in the week ending April 4, a slight decrease from the previous week's count of 6.9 million, which was 219,000 more than the original tally, according to the report.

Overall, nearly 17 million workers in the U.S. lost their jobs since mid-March.

(With input from AFP)