“More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — doubling a record high set just one week earlier — a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Combined with last week’s report that 3.3 million people sought unemployment aid two weeks ago, the U.S. economy has now suffered nearly 10 million layoffs in just the past few weeks — far exceeding the figure for any corresponding period on record.”
“Further signs of a surging wave of layoffs are likely in the coming weeks.”
“The magnitude of the layoffs has led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April. That would be more than double the 8.7 million jobs lost during the Great Recession. The unemployment rate could spike to as high as 15% this month, above the previous record of 10.8% set during a deep recession in 1982.”
“Roughly 90% of the U.S. population is now under stay-at-home orders, which have been imposed by most U.S. states.”
“The reversal in the job market has been dizzying. Four weeks ago, weekly unemployment claims amounted to only 211,000, near a 50-year low. Since then, they have jumped 30-fold.”
danelabonte 