DEEP JOB CUTS TO SHATTER US ECONOMY

Economists are warning that the huge drop jobs in the US are indicative of a bleak future, with more corporations downsizing and shuttering, and the unemployment figure from the US Labor Department confirming that 41 million Americans are out of work.

In a story written by Christopher Rugaber and Dan Sewell for the Associated Press (AP) on May 29, 2020, at least 2.1 million Americans went jobless last week despite the gradual reopening of businesses around the country, stoking fears Thursday that the scourge is doing deep and potentially long-lasting damage to the US economy, which shrank 5% in the first quarter.

The number of US workers filing for unemployment benefits is still extraordinarily high by historical standards, and that suggests businesses are failing or permanently downsizing, not just laying off people until the crisis can pass, economists warn. “That is the kind of economic destruction you cannot quickly put back in the bottle,” said Adam Ozimek, chief economist at Upwork.

“Another looming storm cloud: Economists say the sharp loss of tax revenue for state and local governments is likely to compound the damage from the shutdowns by forcing additional public-sector layoffs in the coming weeks,”

Rugaber and Sewell wrote.