The unemployment rate in the U.S. ballooned to 14.7 percent, with total nonfarm payroll employment falling by 20.5 million in April, according to the jobs report released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate and the total percentage point increase of 10.3 percent is the highest rate ever recorded in the series and the largest month-to-month increase in the history of the series, which began in January 1948.
“The majority of layoffs were temporary versus permanent job losers,” Odeta Kushi, an economist with First American, wrote on Twitter. “The disparate impact is for younger, less educated workers.”
Employment declined in every major industry sector, with losses particularly heavy in leisure and hospitality.
Employment in the financial activities sector dropped 262,000, with real estate, rental and leasing employment falling by 222,000.
Another 3.2 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, bringing the pandemic total north of 33 million.
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