The World Economists at the St. Louis Fed project the economic freeze forced by the coronavirus ultimately will put 47 million Americans out of work, sending the unemployment rate spiking to 32.1 percent. That’s worse than the 30 percent jobless rate St. Louis Fed President James Bullard predicted just last week — and more than seven points worse than the highest unemployment rate the country saw during the Great Depression. The economists arrived at the number by an admittedly “back-of-the-envelope” method: averaging two different data sets, one that pegs 66.8 million jobs at high risk of being eliminated, and another that found 27.3 million workers are in jobs requiring a high degree of contact (think hairstylists and flight attendants.) Significantly, the estimate doesn’t account for the impact of the $2.2 fiscal stimulus just signed into law. (
32% Unemployment
32% Unemployment
32% Unemployment
The World Economists at the St. Louis Fed project the economic freeze forced by the coronavirus ultimately will put 47 million Americans out of work, sending the unemployment rate spiking to 32.1 percent. That’s worse than the 30 percent jobless rate St. Louis Fed President James Bullard predicted just last week — and more than seven points worse than the highest unemployment rate the country saw during the Great Depression. The economists arrived at the number by an admittedly “back-of-the-envelope” method: averaging two different data sets, one that pegs 66.8 million jobs at high risk of being eliminated, and another that found 27.3 million workers are in jobs requiring a high degree of contact (think hairstylists and flight attendants.) Significantly, the estimate doesn’t account for the impact of the $2.2 fiscal stimulus just signed into law. (