In the past week, another 6.6 million Americans have claimed unemployment benefits. In total, 16.8 million US residents have turned to the government for support over the past three weeks for unemployment, a historic low. This means that as a result of the corona crisis, one in ten workers has already been made redundant.
In reality, this figure is even higher, because many new unemployed people have not yet managed to submit their claim for benefits. The congested government offices cannot handle the flow of requests. Moreover, the official figures do not include people who are not entitled to unemployment benefits: newcomers to the labor market, people without a residence permit or with a very low income and also self-employed workers.
20 million unemployed in April
It is taken into account that in April alone, 20 million Americans will lose their jobs. In 48 of the 50 states, nonessential businesses and businesses, including restaurants, hotels, and department stores, have been closed to prevent further spread of the virus. With the exception of the food sector, the average turnover in the last week of March was 97 percent less than last year in the same week.
Economists predict that unemployment in the US, at 3.5 percent in February, will rise to 20 percent by the end of April.
Public health in the United States is also hit hard by the corona virus. More than a quarter of contamination cases worldwide have been diagnosed in the US. An estimated 14,700 Americans have since died of the effects of Covid-19.
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