RESOURCE CENTER

April’s employment report, as released by the U.S. Department of Labor on May 8th, proved that COVID-19 has caused a serious setback to the U.S. economy. The April unemployment rate rose to a record 14.7% totaling to 20.14 million jobs lost.Although it was well below the 25% rate economists estimated for the Great Depression, April job losses produced the largest monthly decline since 1939. Prior to the pandemic, the largest number of jobs lost in one month was 1.96 million, at the end of World War II in 1945.

This is a stark contrast form a few months ago where hundreds of thousands of new jobs were being created and unemployment rates hovered near 50 years lows.

Industries that extensive loses include: leisure and hospitality, healthcare, education, retail and professional services.

The job market’s ability to rebound will depend on the longevity of the pandemic and how quickly consumers react as the economy re-opens. Georgia, South Carolina and Texas are among the first to re-open with restrictions in place. AIS will keep monitoring the situation and provide insights about the impact of COVID-19  on the business and consumer bankruptcies and all the other default services.