How has Covid-19 affected employment throughout the US?

]How has Covid-19 affected employment throughout the U.S.?

With schools shutting down, businesses closing, and many individuals getting laid off of work, it has been a struggle for many. With the continuous spread of the virus, about six weeks ago, the stay at home order was addressed by our Governor, Tony Evers. Since everyone is practicing self isolation, many small businesses are closing, along with many individuals losing their jobs rapidly. Over 20 million Americans have now applied for unemployment benefits just within the past four-five weeks. Unemployment benefits are intended to partially restore lost wages. This means that the precise amount you receive, will depend on what you used to earn with your most recent job. However, states are using different formulas to calculate the benefit payments for individuals. With many individuals losing their jobs, it has taken a huge toll on our economy. Dating back to 2009, the US economy suffered from the Great Recession. However, due to the amount of people that have filed initial claims for unemployment insurance over the past four weeks, the unemployment rate is already about 15%. This is well above the rate at the peak of the Great Recession. During this time period, “The global GDP declined -5.1% and the peak global unemployment rate was at 10%.” The Great Recession lasted from December 2007 to June 2009. Keep in mind, this happened to the span of 18 months. The fact that COVID-19 has caused a skyrocketing unemployment rate of 15% just within six weeks is extremely alarming for our future. According to Annelies Goger, a writer for Brookings Education, she states, “One of the unique features of this crisis is that it is disproportionately impacting low wage workers in the service sector more than previous recessions. This problem is being compounded by the fact that our unemployment system has been engineered to be less equipped and to protect these workers”. This has resulted in many states forced to borrow federal money to bail out their unemployment insurance trust funds. There are millions of jobless Americans that are coming face-to-face with the harsh reality that the jobs they thought they would have for a lifetime, are slowly disappearing. This current economic recession has been considered to be the steepest economic plummet since the Great Depression.

Recently, Trump has announced that stimulus checks from the federal government will be sent out. These checks are being sent out to hopefully re-engage our economy by increasing sales with the money that is being sent out. However, there are multiple factors that affect your eligibility to receive the stimulus check. According to Kenneth Terrel, a writer for AARP, he states “AARP worked to ensure that individuals who are collecting Social Security benefits for retirement, disability or supplemental security income, will be eligible for the stimulus payments as well.” he also states, “the size of the check will decrease based on income for individuals who earn more than $75,000 based on the federal tax return for 2019. Individuals who earned more than $99,000 and couples who earned more than $198,000 jointly will not receive checks at all.” Many reporters, articles, and other sources have made it clear that COVID-19 has reached its peak. However with further research, many individuals are worried about the upcoming fall due to the regular spread of influenza. Researchers have stated that although COVID-19 may have reached its peak in April, there will be another peak, fall of 2020 due to the spread of the flu. Although COVID-19 has swept the world in a global pandemic, the CDC made a statement saying that the best way to avoid the spread of the virus is to stay at home and contained. With these orders, hopefully we can reduce the spread of the virus and start to make our way out of this economic recession.

Works Cited

Cunningham, Josh. COVID-19: Impact on Employment and Labor, www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/covid-19-impact-on-employment-and-labor.aspx.

“Effects of COVID-19 on the Current Employment Statistics Survey.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/bls/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-employment-and-unemployment-statistics.htm.

Mutikani, Lucia, and Thomson Reuters. “Coronavirus: Over 20 Million Americans Have Now Applied for Unemployment Benefit.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/united-states-unemployment-claimants-coronavirus-covid19/.

Ruiz, Joe, et al. “People Receiving Stimulus Checks Get Letter Signed by President Donald Trump.” CNN, Cable News Network, 26 Apr. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/04/26/politics/stimulus-check-coronavirus-letter-donald-trump/index.html.

Terrell, Kenneth. “Stimulus Checks: Who Is Eligible and When Will You Get Them?” AARP, www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2020/coronavirus-stimulus-checks.html.

(Picture) “A Decade after It Hit, What Was Learnt from the Great Recession?” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2017/12/16/a-decade-after-it-hit-what-was-learnt-from-the-great-recession.