May 8, 2020
U.S. unemployment rate hits 14.7% for April
Photo | Grant Welker
The Mall at Whitney Field in Leominster
By Grant Welker
The United States lost more than 20 million jobs in April, pushing the national unemployment rate for the month to 14.7%, according to new U.S. Department of Labor data released Friday.
That monthly rate is by far the highest since the Great Depression, when the rate hit 24.9%. The worst national rate during the Great Recession was 10.0% in October 2009.
The industry hit hardest nationally have been leisure and hospitality, which fell by 47%, or 7.7 million jobs. About three-quarters of that drop took place in food and drink service, with the remainder in arts, entertainment, recreation and accommodation.
State-by-state rates for April aren't yet available, but Massachusetts has seen roughly 778,000 new unemployment claims, accounting for 21% of the state's 3.7-million-person workforce as of March. The state's record high monthly unemployment figure was 10.3% in March 1976, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was 2.9% in March.
The 20.5 million jobs lost nationally in April are the most in a single month, after the economy already lost 870,000 jobs in March, according to the Department of Labor. Employment is now at its lowest level since February 2011.
Other than leisure and hospitality, hard-hit industries include 2.1 million jobs lost in retail — a 13% drop far too much to offset the 93,000 jobs gained in warehouse clubs and supercenters, which have seen an increase in sales as people are largely kept from dining out.
Education and health services lost 2.5 million jobs, a 10% drop, more than half of which took place in health care. Social assistance jobs fell by 651,000, or 15%, and child care centers by 336,200, or one-third. Employment in outpatient care centers fell by 9% and hospitals fell 3%.
Manufacturing employment dropped by 1.3 million, or 10%. Professional and business services fell by 2.1 million, or 10%. Construction fell by 975,000, or 13%, mostly for specialty trade contractors.
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