Market Segment
May 17, 2020
CRU: U.S. Unemployment in the Time of Coronavirus
Written by Anissa Chabib
By CRU Economist Anissa Chabib, from CRU’s Economic Outlook
On May 8, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the official U.S. unemployment data for April. Unemployment increased to 14.7 percent from 4.4 percent in March. This is the highest rate and the largest month-on-month increase in the history of the series, which was created in 1948. This special feature shows that unemployment is likely to increase further in Q2 of 2020, before recovering back to 5-6 percent by the end of 2022. This is predicated on existing government policies being insufficient to ensure a faster return to full employment.
