Bleak predictions for Thursday’s initial jobless claims report, based on a timely analysis of news reports:

• Economic Policy Institute’s Working Economics Blog (3/24/20): The coronavirus crisis led to a record-breaking spike in weekly unemployment insurance claims: An estimated 3.4 million workers filed for unemployment last week by Aaron Sojourner (University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management) and Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham (Yale School of Management)

[Update: This proved to be pretty much on the money come Thursday’s release.]