Unemployment in the US reaches the highest level since 1940

08.05.2020, Washington.

The US unemployment rate has reached its historic levels, the highest since 1940, the US Department of Labor reports on May 8 in its press release.

Earlier, experts forecasted the unemployment rate to reach 16%, a 22 million job loss.

“In April, the unemployment rate jumped 10.3 percentage points to 14.7%. This is the highest rate and the largest increase over-the-month increase in the history of the report,” the reports says.

The number of jobs in non-agricultural segments of the economy decreased by 20.5 million jobs.

Monthly unemployment data has been published since 1948. Prior to that, the Department of Labor had published annual statistics, which claimed that the unemployment rate in 1933 was at its highest during the Great Depression and reached 24.9%. Since 1948, the highest unemployment rate was registered at the end of 1982 when it reached 10.8%.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which has been collecting data since 1929, the unemployment rate in May of 1940 was 14-15%, in 1933 – 25.6%.

It should be mentioned that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the authorities of most countries decided to impose home quarantine measures on their citizens, as well as to suspend economic activities of most enterprises.

Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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