Economists fear millions of layoffs in the U.S. could become permanent

May 22, 20200

Keith Srakocic – Associated Press count

A row of signs advertising jobs are posted in front of a Burger King restaurant, Thursday, May 21, 2020, in Harmony, Pa. 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.

Even as restrictions on businesses began lifting across the United States, another 2.4 million workers filed for jobless benefits last week, the government reported Thursday, bringing the total to 38.6 million in nine weeks.

And while the Labor Department has found that a large majority of laid-off workers expect their joblessness to be temporary, there is growing concern among economists that many jobs will never come back. "I hate to say it, but this is going to take longer and look grimmer than we thought," Nicholas Bloom, an economist at Stanford University, said of the path to recovery.

https://www.startribune.com/economists-fear-millions-of-layoffs-in-the-u-s-could-become-permanent/570679912/