By Tom Burnett CFA
On April 3, 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its March Employment Report. As expected, the nation’s employment situation has worsened considerably. The cause of the jobs decline is obvious—the coronavirus has sickened countless workers and consumers and the measures needed to control the outbreak have forced thousands of businesses to close their doors.
The jobs decline in March was 701,000 which drove the unemployment rate up to 4.4% from 3.5% in February. The number of unemployed workers in the labor force rose from 5.7 million in February to 7.1 million in March. Total employment dropped to 155.8 million from 156.7 million a year ago. Most observers now expect the job loss trends to continue as the country needs to learn to live with ‘stay-at-home’ orders that greatly reduce consumption and investment.
The next report for the month of April will be issued on May 8, 2020.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research