US unemployment rate hits 14.7% as more than 20.5 million lose jobs

The US unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 14.7% – the highest rate since the 1930s Great Depression as more than 20.5 million Americans suffer job losses amid the coronavirus pandemic.    

The harrowing figure comes a day after the Labor Department’s report into weekly unemployment benefit claims showed nearly 3.2 million laid-off workers applied for aid in the week ending May 2. 

At least 33.5 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the seven weeks since the coronavirus began forcing millions of companies to close their doors, bringing the US economy to a near standstill. 

The latest weekly claims data had no impact on the government’s April jobs report because it falls outside the period during which the government surveyed establishments and households for its monthly report. 

In the government’s March report, it showed that the economy had purged 701,000 jobs. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4% from a 50-year low of 3.5%.

That was the most job losses since the Great Recession and ended the longest employment boom in US history that started in late 2010.

That figure, however, was gathered prior to millions filing for jobless claims in the final two weeks of March.