Unemployment hits 14% with 20M jobs lost – highest since Great Depression – but Trump says numbers ‘totally expected’
UNEMPLOYMENT in the US has reached 14.7 percent – the highest it's been since the Great Depression.
President Trump said on Friday he's unconcerned, as the numbers are "totally expected."
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also said more than 20 million Americans jobs their lost in April amid the .
Appearing on Fox & Friends, Trump said the unemployment rate was "expected."
"It’s fully expected there’s no surprise everyone expects that," he said.
"Even the Democrats aren’t blaming me for that. What I can do is I can bring it back," he added.
Trump continued, speaking on the economy being at a peak before the COVID-19 crisis.
"We created the greatest economy… best we’ve ever had," he said.
"The best economy in the history of the world."
However, the jobless rate is now the worst it's been in decades.
In the Great Depression years of the 1930s, unemployment peaked at 25 percent. During the Great Recession of 2008, jobless numbers peaked at around 10 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The the record spike of jobless claims comes as:
- numbers in the US continue to climb, with over 1.2 million cases confirmed
- A researcher who was "on the
- Insiders alleged could prove it's better than the US at fighting diseases
- Data shows a in one of five coronavirus patients
- A new study shows that a of the virus
Experts have amid the coronavirus outbreak and lockdowns across the nation.
Shutdowns have caused workers to have hours cut, been furloughed or lose their jobs entirely as non-essential businesses shuttered to stop the virus.
In April, 20.5 million Americans lost their jobs, bringing the unemployment rate to 14.7 percent.
If numbers included workers who have been furloughed – or put out of work temporarily – the rate would be nearly 20 percent.
More than one million American veterans filed jobless claims in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.
Unemployment rates have soared in just a month, from 4.4 percent in the month of March.
Numbers for last month were also updated, to show 855,000 people lost jobs, instead of 701,000 as previously reported.
At 14.7 percent in April, this is the highest unemployment rate increase ever seen in a month, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics spanning back to 1948.
In February, unemployment was at a record five-decade low, at 3.5 percent.
More than pandemic, according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday.
Over the past week alone, 3.2 million Americans filed for unemployment – keeping the numbers climbing week-by-week.
In just a matter of a month, job growth from the Great Recession has been shattered due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A $2.2trillion stimulus package was passed in late March, including $1200 stimulus checks to Americans that fall within a certain income bracket.
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Millions of people are – and could be for up to five months.
There have been talks of a , but nothing has been passed in Congress yet.
President Trump himself yesterday, as he said "something could happen."
"There is talk about something happening. And we'll see what's going on," he said Thursday.