U.S. Economy Lost 701,000 Jobs as Coronavirus Rages

About 701,000 people in the country have lost their jobs as the coronavirus continues to spread, showing how a pandemic can affect US economy.

In March 2020, the U.S. economy lost 701,000 jobs. This snaps a “decade-long record of employment growth, as strict measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic shuttered businesses and forced Americans to stay at home,” reported Fox Business.

The report added that it was the first decline in payrolls since September 2010 and the steepest since March 2009. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4 percent.

According to economists surveyed by Refinitiv, they foresee a payroll decline of 100,000. They also predict that the unemployment rate will rise to 3.8 percent.

“We haven’t seen a jobs number in the red since the financial crisis — but jobs watchers have been bracing for it,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E-Trade. “Today’s data is likely more than the tip of the iceberg, but the entire mass of this threat has yet to be seen,” he further stated.

Approximations regarding how high unemployment will rise extremely vary, but economists agree that it will not be well. An analysis published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis predicts that “unemployment could hit 32 percent in the second quarter as more than 47 million workers are laid off because of the pandemic. That would exceed the 24.9 percent peak during the Great Depression.”

“Much bigger job losses are coming,” said Mark Zandi, Moody's chief economist. Zandi estimated that between 10 to 15 million jobs could disappear from the economy as a result of the outbreak.

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