Almost half the US population was unemployed in May 2020

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Almost half the US population was jobless last month, CNBC reported Monday. According to the Bureau of Labor data for May 2020, the number of employed people as a percentage of the US adult population was 52.8% last month, meaning 47.2% of Americans had no job. The figures for June will be published on Thursday this week.

Prior to COVID-19 shutdowns, the US employment level had reached a recent high of 61.2% in January. The previous post-war record had been 64.7% employed in 2000.  The current unemployment rate does not include those who are not looking for work, CNBC reported. The workforce is made up of 60% of the US adult population.

After an unexpected brief uptick, the labor market slowed down again following a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic this month. Texas and Florida are among a number of states that have stalled reopening because of a spike in COVID-19 cases. According to John Hopkins University date, the average number of new daily cases was 38,200 on Sunday.

In a note to CNBC, MUFG Union Bank’s chief economist Chris Rupkey said: “Right now the economy’s recovery is being dragged down by the millions and millions of Americans without jobs and [who] simply haven’t got it. The massive job losses mean the economy isn’t out of the woods yet.”

Also writing to CNBC, Deutsche Bank chief economist Torsten Slok said: “To get the employment-to-population ratio back to where it was at its peak in 2000 we need to create 30 million jobs.” 

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