‘Grimmer Than We Thought’: Economists Warn That Some Jobs Lost During Crisis May Be Gone Forever
Nearly 39 million Americans have lost their jobs so far during the pandemic. Even when the economy starts to come back, it will likely look quite different from the one that closed, experts say. Meanwhile, those trying to get help from the government are stuck navigating a cumbersome and out-of-date unemployment system. And while food banks get a lot of attention, even those who work there say SNAP is more beneficial to people going hungry. Other news touches on worker safety, permanent shifts to remote work and the "coronavirus surcharge."
The New York Times:
Many Jobs May Vanish Forever As Layoffs Mount
Even as states begin to reopen for business, a further 2.4 million workers joined the nation’s unemployment rolls last week, and there is growing concern among economists that many of the lost jobs are gone for good. The Labor Department’s report of new jobless claims, released Thursday, brought the total to 38.6 million since mid-March, when the coronavirus outbreak forced widespread shutdowns. While workers and their employers have expressed optimism that most of the joblessness will be temporary, many who are studying the pandemic’s impact are increasingly worried about the employment situation. (Cohen, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Nearly 39 Million Have Lost Jobs In US Since Virus Took Hold
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits in the two months since the coronavirus took hold in the U.S. has swelled to nearly 39 million, the government reported Thursday, even as states from coast to coast gradually reopen their economies and let people go back to work. More than 2.4 million people filed for unemployment last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the business shutdowns that have brought the economy to its knees, the Labor Department said. That brings the running total to a staggering 38.6 million, a job-market collapse unprecedented in its speed. (Rugaber and Kirka, 5/22)
Politico:
At Least A Quarter Of The Workforce Is Out Of A Job. How Much Worse Will It Get?
The economic impact of the pandemic is staggering. The latest numbers on unemployment claims came out this morning: 2.4 million workers filed for unemployment last week, which means at least 38.6 million Americans — about 23.4 percent of the workforce — have lost their jobs over the past nine weeks as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the economy. (For some context: In normal times, the number of weekly unemployment claims usually hovers around a couple hundred thousand.) (Kingsberry, 5/21)
NPR:
How A Decades-Old Unemployment Insurance System Is Measuring Up In The Pandemic
That's more than one in five American workers using an unemployment insurance system first established decades ago to serve a very different population. It was 1935 and the country was struggling to emerge from the Great Depression. The system's focus was people who worked in medium-to-large manufacturing or in trade industries, says Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. (Donevan and Hsu, 5/21)
NPR:
Food Banks Get The Love, But SNAP Does More To Fight Hunger
Millions of newly impoverished people are turning to the charitable organizations known as food banks. Mile-long lines of cars, waiting for bags of free food, have become one of the most striking images of the current economic crisis. Donations are up, too, including from a new billion-dollar government effort called the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. (Charles, 5/22)
Politico:
California Lawmakers Blast 'Atrocious' UI System Overloaded With 4.9M Claims
California state lawmakers unleashed their frustrations about the state's unemployment system Thursday, demanding answers from an agency director about the problems their jobless constituents have endured trying to access the financial lifeline during the pandemic. "We’ve never heard the type of suffering people are experiencing right now," said Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco). "The feedback we’re getting is atrocious." (Murphy, 5/21)
The New York Times:
Facebook Starts Planning For Permanent Remote Work From Home
Facebook said on Thursday that it would allow many employees to work from home permanently. But there’s a catch: They may not be able to keep their big Silicon Valley salaries in more affordable parts of the country. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, told workers during a staff meeting that was livestreamed on his Facebook page that within a decade as many as half of the company’s more than 48,000 employees would work from home. (Conger, 5/21)
The New York Times:
‘Working People Want Real Change’: A Union Chief Sounds Off On The Crisis
Growing up as the oldest girl among 10 siblings in a large Catholic family in Detroit, Mary Kay Henry learned the power of collective action at an early age. Sometimes, she and her older brother would have to get all their siblings ready for school, packing lunches, getting kids dressed and shepherding everyone on to the bus. “When there’s a group that shares a mission and everybody has a job to do, things that seem impossible are possible,” she said. “That’s my guiding star.” (Gelles, 5/22)
The Hill:
Eighth Amazon Warehouse Worker Dies Of Coronavirus
Amazon announced Thursday that another one of its warehouse workers died from complications associated with the coronavirus. The recent death marks eight employees the tech giant has lost because of the disease. The employee who passed was a woman who had been with the company since November 2018. She was staffed at Amazon's fulfillment center just outside of Cleveland in North Randall, Ohio, according to NBC News. (Johnson, 5/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Covid Surcharge: Companies Confront The Unforgiving Economics Of Coronavirus
Companies from major retailers and package carriers to local restaurants and hair salons are awakening to a new economic reality in the age of the new coronavirus: Being open for business is almost as hard as being closed. Facing higher costs to keep workers and customers safe and an indefinite period of suppressed demand, businesses are navigating an ever-narrower path to profitability. To make the math work, some businesses are cutting services and jobs. Others are raising prices, including imposing coronavirus-related fees aimed at getting customers to share some of the expenses. (Grossman, 5/22)
