Thousands of Americans have been laid off because of closure of businesses due to the massive spread of the coronavirus pandemic as the government imposed strict restrictions on businesses in an effort to slow down the spread of the pandemic.
The massiveness of the layoffs in the country became evident after the weekly unemployment figures were released on Thursday by the United States Department of Labor. The data showed that the number of unemployed people in the country last week was the highest ever since records were being kept – based on number of new unemployment claims filed.
The number of sudden jobless in America now is now greater than that during the Great Recession and much more than the figures that were seen after some of the major disasters such as hurricanes, fires and floods.
Last week, the number of US resident eligible for unemployment benefits filing claims reached a total of more than 3.28 million. The previous weekly record for claims of unemployment benefits was 695,000 set in 1982 and was well over the levels witnessed during the 2008 financial crisis. Data on this count has been kept since 1967.
The four-week moving average was 1,731,000, an increase of 27,500 from the previous week’s revised average.
"Most historical comparisons of this scale are inadequate," said Glassdoor senior economist Daniel Zhao. "The closest would be natural disasters like major hurricanes. However, as today's report shows, the coronavirus outbreak is economically akin to a major hurricane occurring in every state around the country for weeks on end.”
The impact of the fast and vicious spread of the coornavirus pandemic in the US has resulted in lockdown of cities and states causing the temporary closure restaurants, hotels, airlines, automakers and entertainment venues. That has rendered workers in those business establishments losing their jobs.
Many countries around the world too have imposed partial or countrywide lockdowns hurting businesses except for those in the essential service sectors. The aim of such draconian restrictions on life of citizens – asking them to not step out of their homes, is to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
According to doctors and scientists, the novel coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms in most infected people – just like common flue, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. However the disease can cause be serious, and potentially life threatening for some, for older adults and those who have existing health problems.
The global economy as whole has been impacted by the various measures taken by various countries to stop the spread of the virus. This has also forced companies in Europe to sack workers at a speed that is equal to the rate of unemployment seen during the 2008-09 financial crisis.
The European Union has not yet come out with their official labor statistics but announcement of layoffs of tens of thousands of employees are being made by companies there – both permanent and temporary. It is expected that the increase in the number of unemployed in Europe will be as high as in the US since it is harder to fire workers in Europe. Many governments in the continent are providing financial support to companies so that the firms are able to retain employees on partially paid leave.
(Source:www.pbs.org amdf www.foxnews.com)
The massiveness of the layoffs in the country became evident after the weekly unemployment figures were released on Thursday by the United States Department of Labor. The data showed that the number of unemployed people in the country last week was the highest ever since records were being kept – based on number of new unemployment claims filed.
The number of sudden jobless in America now is now greater than that during the Great Recession and much more than the figures that were seen after some of the major disasters such as hurricanes, fires and floods.
Last week, the number of US resident eligible for unemployment benefits filing claims reached a total of more than 3.28 million. The previous weekly record for claims of unemployment benefits was 695,000 set in 1982 and was well over the levels witnessed during the 2008 financial crisis. Data on this count has been kept since 1967.
The four-week moving average was 1,731,000, an increase of 27,500 from the previous week’s revised average.
"Most historical comparisons of this scale are inadequate," said Glassdoor senior economist Daniel Zhao. "The closest would be natural disasters like major hurricanes. However, as today's report shows, the coronavirus outbreak is economically akin to a major hurricane occurring in every state around the country for weeks on end.”
The impact of the fast and vicious spread of the coornavirus pandemic in the US has resulted in lockdown of cities and states causing the temporary closure restaurants, hotels, airlines, automakers and entertainment venues. That has rendered workers in those business establishments losing their jobs.
Many countries around the world too have imposed partial or countrywide lockdowns hurting businesses except for those in the essential service sectors. The aim of such draconian restrictions on life of citizens – asking them to not step out of their homes, is to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
According to doctors and scientists, the novel coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms in most infected people – just like common flue, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. However the disease can cause be serious, and potentially life threatening for some, for older adults and those who have existing health problems.
The global economy as whole has been impacted by the various measures taken by various countries to stop the spread of the virus. This has also forced companies in Europe to sack workers at a speed that is equal to the rate of unemployment seen during the 2008-09 financial crisis.
The European Union has not yet come out with their official labor statistics but announcement of layoffs of tens of thousands of employees are being made by companies there – both permanent and temporary. It is expected that the increase in the number of unemployed in Europe will be as high as in the US since it is harder to fire workers in Europe. Many governments in the continent are providing financial support to companies so that the firms are able to retain employees on partially paid leave.
(Source:www.pbs.org amdf www.foxnews.com)
