30 Million Have Sought US Jobless Aid Since Virus Hit

April 30, 2020by Christopher Rugabeer, AP Economics Writer
30 Million Have Sought US Jobless Aid Since Virus Hit
A man walks past a closed business, Wednesday, April 29, 2020, in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy slid further into a crisis that is becoming the most devastating since the 1930s.

Roughly 30.3 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the six weeks since the coronavirus outbreak began forcing millions of employers to close their doors and slash their workforces. That is more people than live in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas combined, and it’s by far the worst string of layoffs on record. It adds up to more than one in six American workers.

With more employers cutting payrolls to save money, economists have forecast that the unemployment rate for April could go as high as 20%. That would be the highest rate since it reached 25% during the Great Depression.

This week, the government estimated that the economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate in the first three months of this year, the sharpest quarterly drop since the 2008 financial crisis. Yet the picture is likely to grow far worse: The economy is expected to contract in the April-June quarter by as much as 40% at an annual rate. No previous quarter has been anywhere near as weak since the government began keeping such records after World War II.

As businesses across the country have shut down and laid off tens of millions of workers, the economy has sunk into a near-paralysis in just a few weeks. Factories, hotels, restaurants, department stores, movie theaters and many small businesses are shuttered. Home sales are falling. Households are slashing spending. Consumer confidence is sinking.

With some signs that the viral outbreak may have plateaued at least in certain areas of the country, a few governors have taken tentative steps to begin reopening their economies. But surveys show that a large majority of Americans remain wary of returning to shopping, traveling and other normal economic activity. That suggests that many industries will struggle with diminished revenue for weeks or months to come and might be unable to rehire laid-off workers.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below:

The U.S. government is expected Thursday to issue another bleak report on the layoffs that have cut through America’s workforce since the coronavirus forced businesses across the country to shut down starting last month.

The Labor Department will likely report that several million more people filed for unemployment benefits last week, after more than 26 million applied for aid in the previous five weeks. All told, the layoffs add up to the largest streak of U.S. job losses on record.

Across nearly every industry, nonessential businesses have closed, and workers have been sent home with no clear idea of when or whether they might be recalled. An economic recovery may be months or years off, though governors in a few states have begun allowing some businesses to reopen under certain restrictions.

For April, economists say the unemployment rate could go as high as 20%. That would be the highest rate since the Great Depression, when it reached 25%.

A+
a-
  • Coronavirus
  • Economy
  • Labor Department
  • Unemployment
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Economy

    What's Targeted in Trump's Request for $9.4B in Budget Cuts From Congress

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is looking to cancel $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress. That's just a sliver... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is looking to cancel $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress. That's just a sliver of the $1.7 trillion that lawmakers OK'd for the budget year ending Sept. 30. The package of 21 budget rescissions will have to be approved by both chambers... Read More

    Wall Street Gains Ground Following a Solid Jobs Report

    NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose on Wall Street Friday following a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market. The... Read More

    NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose on Wall Street Friday following a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market. The S&P 500 index rose 1.2% in morning trading. The benchmark index remains on track to notch a second consecutive winning week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average... Read More

    Hit by Trump Trade Wars, US Economy Falls 0.2% in First Quarter, an Upgrade From Initial Estimate

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years, as President Donald Trump’s trade wars disrupted business, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its initial estimate. First-quarter growth was brought down by... Read More

    DC Mayor Seeks Business-Friendly Policies to Spark Growth Amid Loss of up to 40,000 Federal Jobs

    WASHINGTON (AP) — With the nation's capital facing a pair of overlapping budget crises, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has unveiled a budget... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — With the nation's capital facing a pair of overlapping budget crises, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has unveiled a budget proposal that bets heavily on business-friendly policies designed to boost investment and move the city away from dependence on a dwindling number of federal jobs. “We have... Read More

    Trump Tariff Threats on EU, Apple, Send US Futures and Global Markets Skidding

    U.S. futures and global markets slumped Friday after President Donald Trump posted a pair of tariff threats on social media,... Read More

    U.S. futures and global markets slumped Friday after President Donald Trump posted a pair of tariff threats on social media, one aimed at Apple and the other at the European Union. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.5% and Nasdaq futures... Read More

    Trump Heading to Capitol Hill to Persuade Divided GOP to Unify Around His 'Big, Beautiful' Bill

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill early Tuesday to seal the deal on his “big, beautiful bill,"... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill early Tuesday to seal the deal on his “big, beautiful bill," using the power of political persuasion to unify divided House Republicans on the multitrillion-dollar package that is at risk of collapsing ahead of planned votes this week. Trump has implored... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top