A new analysis released Tuesday shows that more U.S. workers filed unemployment claims last week than during any other week in the nation’s history.
An estimated 3.4 million Americans filed such claims for the week ending March 21, according to the findings from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
“This will dwarf every other week in history,” wrote EPI’s Aaron Sojourner and Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, adding, “The true impacts are undoubtedly of larger scale than described here.”
Tulsi Gabbard’s brother charged after allegedly trying to lure children to Waikīkī hotel room: police
Andrew, Tristan Tate arrested in Miami as UK seeks extradition on expanded rape, trafficking charges
Mamdani doubles down on democratic socialism while insisting Wall Street, business leaders can work with him
Boston police investigate death at home owned by Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s husband
Bernie Sanders dismisses Haley Stevens, says Michigan race is against the ‘billionaire class’
Mamdani says NYC is exploring whether it can arrest Netanyahu if Israeli leader visits for UN General Assembly
Liberal circuit judge blasts SCOTUS conservatives, says Hawaii will defy high court
Rubio Goes Viral as Millions Watch, Share His Rousing Speech on the Evils of the Modern Left
Caitlin Clark Sets Scoring Record with Monster 45-Point Game in Comeback Win
Tough But Moral: How Israel Phoned a Terrorist and Offered to Kill Him Without Touching His Family… and He Took the Deal
Breaking: Two US Service Members Killed in Iranian Strike on Air Base
Stephen Miller says Trump administration is pursuing policy to debank illegal immigrants
New Yorkers collected $2.6 billion in welfare cash payments last year, city data shows
Mamdani Admits to Exploring Plan to Arrest Netanyahu in New York City
Dave Portnoy Shocked by People Who Fled ‘Countries That Are Disasters’ Spreading Socialism Across US
The startling calculation—based on claims in 35 states and Washington, D.C. and extrapolated to the other 15 states—comes as the nation continues to experience a rise in cases of the novel coronavirus—with over 46,000 confirmed as of Tuesday—and as ordinary Americans feel the economic and societal impacts of the crisis, with schools, stores, and work places temporarily shuttered, varying degrees of lockdowns in place, and households and frontline workers still wondering if lawmakers will put their urgent needs above those of corporate America.
A graph accompanying the new EPI analysis, which is based on data from news reports from March 15 to March 21, illustrates the enormous jump in unemployment claims—even if the actual figure ends up being on the analysts’ low-end projection of 3 million claims. At no other point in the timeline shown does the figure even scrape 1 million.
Reaction to the findings was stark:
Tulsi Gabbard’s brother charged after allegedly trying to lure children to Waikīkī hotel room: police
Andrew, Tristan Tate arrested in Miami as UK seeks extradition on expanded rape, trafficking charges
Mamdani doubles down on democratic socialism while insisting Wall Street, business leaders can work with him
Boston police investigate death at home owned by Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s husband
Bernie Sanders dismisses Haley Stevens, says Michigan race is against the ‘billionaire class’
Mamdani says NYC is exploring whether it can arrest Netanyahu if Israeli leader visits for UN General Assembly
Liberal circuit judge blasts SCOTUS conservatives, says Hawaii will defy high court
Rubio Goes Viral as Millions Watch, Share His Rousing Speech on the Evils of the Modern Left
Caitlin Clark Sets Scoring Record with Monster 45-Point Game in Comeback Win
Tough But Moral: How Israel Phoned a Terrorist and Offered to Kill Him Without Touching His Family… and He Took the Deal
Breaking: Two US Service Members Killed in Iranian Strike on Air Base
Stephen Miller says Trump administration is pursuing policy to debank illegal immigrants
New Yorkers collected $2.6 billion in welfare cash payments last year, city data shows
Mamdani Admits to Exploring Plan to Arrest Netanyahu in New York City
Dave Portnoy Shocked by People Who Fled ‘Countries That Are Disasters’ Spreading Socialism Across US
This chart, holy shit https://t.co/luqjZ4ngsh pic.twitter.com/NeCbcOY1aw
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) March 24, 2020
Sojourner and Goldsmith-Pinkham, both research associates at EPI, put the projection into the context of the nation’s unemployment rate:
For scale, consider that 3.4 million Americans moving from employment to unemployment would raise the number of the unemployed from 5.7 million to 9.1 million. This alone would raise the unemployment rate by more than half, by 2 percentage points from 3.5% to 5.5%, moving back to 2015 levels in just one week. This spike represents 2.2% of all jobs in the economy. The largest monthly rise in the unemployment rate in American history was plus 1.3 percentage points in October 1949.
Tulsi Gabbard’s brother charged after allegedly trying to lure children to Waikīkī hotel room: police
Andrew, Tristan Tate arrested in Miami as UK seeks extradition on expanded rape, trafficking charges
Mamdani doubles down on democratic socialism while insisting Wall Street, business leaders can work with him
Boston police investigate death at home owned by Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s husband
Bernie Sanders dismisses Haley Stevens, says Michigan race is against the ‘billionaire class’
Mamdani says NYC is exploring whether it can arrest Netanyahu if Israeli leader visits for UN General Assembly
Liberal circuit judge blasts SCOTUS conservatives, says Hawaii will defy high court
Rubio Goes Viral as Millions Watch, Share His Rousing Speech on the Evils of the Modern Left
Caitlin Clark Sets Scoring Record with Monster 45-Point Game in Comeback Win
Tough But Moral: How Israel Phoned a Terrorist and Offered to Kill Him Without Touching His Family… and He Took the Deal
Breaking: Two US Service Members Killed in Iranian Strike on Air Base
Stephen Miller says Trump administration is pursuing policy to debank illegal immigrants
New Yorkers collected $2.6 billion in welfare cash payments last year, city data shows
Mamdani Admits to Exploring Plan to Arrest Netanyahu in New York City
Dave Portnoy Shocked by People Who Fled ‘Countries That Are Disasters’ Spreading Socialism Across US
Grim as the scenario painted by the analsis is, reality may be even worse. The researchers wrote that the actual tally of claims “could be substantially higher.” Not all unemployed workers are able to file unemployment insurance claims either, and for those that do, they’ll get about half—or less—of their regular income. The end of the coronavirus crisis is also not in the immediate future.
All that points to the need for the federal government to provide states with more aid.
“American working families are paying a large price through no fault of their own,” wrote Sojourner and Goldsmith-Pinkham. “But there is no shortcutting public health to get the American economy back to work. A healthy economy requires public health.”
Story cited here.
