News

Umployment Rate Surges To 14.7%, Wiping Out 10 Years Of Gains

As businesses closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, many suddenly laid off and furloughed millions of employees. Layoffs were so severe, they nearly wiped out 10 years of job gains in just two months, and the official U.S. unemployment rate surged to 14.7% in April.

That marks the highest unemployment rate since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking the monthly data in 1948, and it’s on par with BLS estimates of unemployment levels during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Despite the already high numbers, millions of jobless Americans are not counted in that figure.

Workers are only counted as “unemployed” if they were out of work and searched for a job in the last four weeks, orr if they were temporary laid off.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Many people who lost their jobs did not immediately begin job hunting, because many statewide shut down orders closed all but essential businesses. Those people who decided to hold off on their job search are not counted in the unemployment number.

According to CNN, the April unemployment rate doesn’t include: 6.9 million people who want a job but haven’t searched in the last 12 months; 10.9 million people who worked part-time “for economic reasons” (including those who had their hours reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic); and 2.3 million people who were “marginally attached” to the work force – meaning they ooked for a job in last year but not in the last four weeks.

Katherine Huggins

Share
Published by
Katherine Huggins

Recent Posts

Former Vice President Mike Pence Calls Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs ‘Harmful’

Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized President Donald Trump's recent efforts to raise tariffs, describing…

2 hours ago

Supreme Court Divided On Trump’s Executive Order To End Birthright Citizenship

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments on President Donald Trump's executive order to end…

3 hours ago

Florida Bans Fluoride From Water Supply After DeSantis Push

Last week, Florida became the second state to ban fluoride from public drinking water officially.…

20 hours ago

National Weather Service Struggles After DOGE Staff Cuts As Hurricane Season Arrives: ‘Our Worst Nightmare’

The National Weather Service (NWS) is under strain after losing hundreds of employees over the…

21 hours ago

After Supreme Court Backs Trump Administration’s Plan To End Protections For Venezuelan Migrants, Venezuelan-Americans Questions Support For Trump

Last week, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with ending Temporary…

23 hours ago

Texas House Approves GOP Bill To Require Ten Commandments Be Posted In Every Classroom

On Saturday, a Republican proposal to display the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom…

1 day ago