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 — The Biden administration’s push to tackle several crises at once has reenergized the push for green jobs or those jobs which contribute to preserving or restoring the environment, including those in traditional sectors, like manufacturing. His American Jobs Plan, an infrastructure investment proposal that... Read More
It was a scene that repeated itself at intersection after intersection in the District and surrounding communities in Virginia and Maryland this past weekend. Desperate-faced drivers, their knuckles taut against their steering wheels, slowly moving past lonely gas pumps and peering into the gas station’s store... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. restaurants and stores are rapidly raising pay in an urgent effort to attract more applicants and keep up with a flood of customers as the pandemic eases. McDonald's, Sheetz and Chipotle are just some of the latest companies to follow Amazon, Walmart ... Read More
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — During the gloomiest stretches of the pandemic, Dr. Diona Krahn's veterinary clinic has been a puppy fest, overrun with new four-legged patients. Typically, she'd get three or four new puppies a week, but between shelter adoptions and private purchases, the 2020... Read More
This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics released data that the U.S. birth rate is the lowest it’s been since 1979, and one theory on why this is happening is younger individuals who are of childbearing-age are putting off... Read More
An official from the International Monetary Fund argued this week that the Middle East and Central Asia regions should shift towards a new and inclusive economic model as they emerge from the pandemic, echoing IMF claims that this is the time for a world economic shift. ... Read More
