More than 700,000 U.S. workers joined the ranks of the unemployed in March in what many economists predict is the beginning of a labor-market crash triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday employers cut 701,000 jobs last month, pushing the jobless rate up to 4.4%, a steep increase from 3.5% in February. It was the biggest one-month increase since January 1975.
Friday’s Labor Department report does not completely reflect the millions of claims for jobless benefits that were filed over the last two weeks of March because of the pandemic.
On Thursday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicted the unemployment rate will eventually rise above 10% and that the Gross Domestic Product will shrink 7% in the second quarter as Covid-19 continues to disrupt the business sector and the lives of millions of people.
The unemployment report for April, scheduled for release on May 8, could show the largest ever one-month decline in U.S. jobs.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 39% of U.S. citizens said they have lost their jobs, had their work hours cut or were forced to accept pay reductions because of the outbreak.
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