Employers Eliminated More Than 20 Million Jobs in April, Report Says
WASHINGTON – U.S. private sector employers cut 20.2 million jobs from their payrolls in April, a stunning sign of just what the coronavirus outbreak has done to the economy in a relatively short time.
In a report released Wednesday, ADP, the payroll processing company, says no single sector of the economy has been untouched by the pandemic.
The deepest cuts came in the leisure and hospitality sector, which shed 8.6 million workers last month.
Utilities and trade and transportation related companies cut 3.4 million from their payrolls, while construction firms let 2.5 million go.
Manufacturers trimmed about 1.7 million from their payrolls, and the health care sector shed about 1 million jobs.
More than half of April’s job losses came from smaller companies with 500 workers or fewer. But larger employers cut 8.9 million jobs.
If there was one bright spot in Wednesday’s report, it was in the area of education service, which saw a modest gain of about 28,000.
The ADP report comes two days ahead of the official monthly job figures from the U.S. Labor Department.
Economists believe the Friday report will reveal unemployment in the U.S. stands at about 16%, up from 4.4% in March.
In The News
Health
Voting
Economy
WASHINGTON — House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal's attitude toward legislating under a Democratic-led White House might aptly be described as "never let a crisis go to waste." The Massachusetts Democrat wants to take a page from his party's 2009 playbook, when the Obama administration took office amid the wreckage of... Read More
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will put $455 billion in unspent Cares Act funding into an account that his presumed successor, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, will need authorization from Congress to use. Mnuchin plans to place the money into the agency's General Fund, a Treasury Department spokesperson said Tuesday. That fund... Read More
WASHINGTON — A top Senate Democrat said Tuesday that she's engaged in bipartisan discussions on COVID-19 aid and urged quick action even if that means "a short-term package for the next few months." "We need to act," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D- Mich., the fourth-ranking Democrat in that chamber... Read More
Turkey prices are sinking as the pandemic may keep some American families from hosting big groups this Thanksgiving. The price of ingredients in a traditional turkey dinner for 10 people is down to the lowest level in a decade, driven largely by grocers discounting the meal's centerpiece to... Read More
Ørsted, the Danish renewable energy group, and the North America's Building Trades Unions have entered into a pact to train an offshore wind construction workforce as the firm eyes construction of a series of wind farm projects up and down the East Coast. The deal comes... Read More
DALLAS — Three of the biggest U.S. airlines say demand is weakening for the usually busy Thanksgiving period as the CDC cautioned Americans against traveling for the holiday. United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines said Thursday that they have seen an increase in cancellations and a decrease in new bookings as a surge in COVID-19 cases... Read More
