FXStreet reports that Josh Nye from the Royal Bank of Canada notes that new unemployment insurance claims skyrocketed to 6.65 million last week while current unemployment rate nearing 10%, 2009's high.

“Jobless claims came in well above expectations with another 6.65 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance last week, building on what was already a record 3.31 million claims in the prior week.”

“Those 10 million people represent about 6% of the US labour force, suggesting the current unemployment rate is near the last recession's high water mark of 10%. And layoffs are likely to continue in the coming weeks.”