Transcript
At 8:30 Friday morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed its monthly jobs report.
Many feared it would be the worst jobs report the US has ever seen.
Those fears were confirmed.
Americans lost a record 20.5 million jobs last month.
That makes April the largest single month of job losses since the BLS began tracking the data in 1939.
The unemployment rate soared to 14.7% in April.
The last time American joblessness was that severe was the Great Depression.
The losses in April follow state cutbacks in March when employers slashed 870,000 jobs.
The blow to workers comes as the American economy is in a self-imposed shutdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Analysts say a job growth could resume by Memorial Day as businesses in many parts of the United States start to reopen.
But the challenge the US is facing is how do you let people go back to work and not risk the coronavirus spreading even more.
Some analysts say a combination, letting people go back to work and run the risk of the virus, is what’s needed for the country to start a rebound.
Posted – 5.8.20