As the nation continues to face the largest economic crisis in almost a century, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) April 2020 Hiring Situation revealed that the economy lost 20.5 million jobs last month, leading the unemployment rate to skyrocket to 14.7%. This is the highest rate seen since World War 2. The data reflects the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it.
Amid the worst public health crisis in American history, more than 1.4 million healthcare jobs were lost last month, primarily in ambulatory healthcare services as dental and physician offices closed and elective surgeries came to a halt (-1.2M). Hospital payrolls were down 139,000.
The Report also revealed that if millions of Americans who have been furloughed and expect to return to their jobs are counted, the jobless rate would have almost 5 percentage points higher at nearly 20%.
In the seven weeks since the virus shut down much of the U.S. economy, more than 33 million people have applied for unemployment benefits, as the numbers continue to grow by several million a week.