Because of the pandemic, the US lost a record 20.5 million jobs in April. According to official data, this is the worst economic crisis since the great depression.
Mass layoffs have raised the unemployment rate to 14.7%, the highest figure registered since the Bureau of labor statistics began tracking it in 1940-ies.
Until April, the US economy, the unemployment rate was about 4.4%.
Weekly unemployment figures from the labor Department show that more than 33 million Americans filed initial applications for unemployment benefits over the past seven weeks: an average of 4.7 million per week. Surveys show that millions of people gave up trying to apply for benefits because the process was too complicated.
«Today’s jobs report shows that closing the U.S. economy will create deep and lasting scars for the workforce of America,» said Josh Lipsky, Director of programs and policy analytical center Atlantic Council.
However, the figures were slightly better than the gloomy expectations of economists, who had expected a loss of 22 million jobs, which would raise the unemployment rate to 16%.
