WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millions more Americans likely filed for unemployment benefits last week as backlogs continue to be cleared and disruptions from the novel coronavirus unleash a second wave of layoffs, pointing to another month of staggering job losses in May.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits likely totaled a seasonally adjusted 2.4 million for the week ended May 16, according to a Reuters survey of economists.

Data for the prior week is likely to be revised to show applications substantially down from the previously reported 2.981 million after Connecticut said it had misreported its numbers.

Last week’s filings would lift the number of people who filed claims for unemployment benefits to about 38.9 million since March 21.

With the initial claims numbers being somewhat distorted by processing issues, attention has shifted to the number of people staying on unemployment benefits rolls.

Continuing claims rose only 456,000 to a record 22.833 million for the week ending May 2.