Unemployment in US swells to new highs not seen since the 1929 Great

Washington: The unemployment levels in the United States have reached levels never seen after 1929. The Novel Coronavirus has left 16 million people jobless, and experts around the world are expressing concerns over the growing unemployment in the United States. The economists have warned that if the condition persisted, the United States and in turn, the entire world would have to brace for the ‘Second Great Depression’.

As per a US report, the US economy has taken the worst hit because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Last week, 4.4 million people in the United States applied for unemployment benefits. On the other hand, 26 million Americans lost their employment in the past five weeks, the report revealed. Considering the entire population of the United States, the new data shockingly shows that one in every six people in the country were laid-off.

The current unemployment in the United States is being compared to the Great Depression of 1929. The United States and the world had faced a Great Depression during the period between 1929 and 1933. The Great Depression had begun following the crash in the US stock markets. At the time, 15 million US citizens had lost their jobs. Also, half the banks had closed down. Besides, the global GDP had plunged with negative growth. Nevertheless, economists and analysts believe the present condition is worse than that during the Great Depression.

Chris Rupkey, economist and director at a Japanese Bank, says, ‘At this point, it would take a miracle to keep this recession from turning into the Great Depression II.’ Only last month, Rupkey had forewarned of an imminent unemployment crisis in the United States as that during the 1929 Great Depression.

Considering the extent and intensity the recent economic crisis is more significant than the Great Depression, Economist Martin Wolf claimed. At the same time, Wolf issued a warning to the countries across the globe, which are in a hurry to resume business operations by withdrawing the lockdown. ‘If the lockdown is withdrawn for recovering the economy and the Coronavirus spreads rapidly in the country, the economic damage will be more widespread,’ Wolf cautioned.