Unemployment Claims Spike, Highest in US History in Decades
The number of jobless claims in the United States spiked to an all-time record high of nearly 3.3 million last week as many cities go on lockdown and businesses shutter due to the coronavirus outbreak. The sheer number…
The number of jobless claims in the United States spiked to an all-time record high of nearly 3.3 million last week as many cities go on lockdown and businesses shutter due to the Coronavirus Outbreak.
The sheer number of the claims is almost five times the previous record set in 1982 and is one of the first looks into the widespread economic damage caused by the virus. Despite the high number, there were also reports of website outages and jammed phone lines that prevented potentially several people from filing their unemployment claims.
Some economists are now estimating the unemployment rate could hit 13% by May. During the 2009 recession, the highest unemployment rate was 10%.
“What seemed impossible just two weeks ago is now reality,” Nancy Vanden Houten, an economist at Oxford Economics, told the Associated Press (AP). “The US Economy will experience the largest economic contraction on record with the most severe surge in unemployment ever.”
The latest unemployment numbers drew strong reactions across social media:
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