Unemployment rates increased due to COVID-19

Question

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "The recession induced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in steep job losses, pushed unemployment rate to a high percent of 13.0 percent in the second quarter of 2020". The article talks about how unemployment rate and employment rate declined in all demographic groups.

Answer 1

The coronavirus not only affected the health of the population but it dramatically affected the economy. This is because of the effect it had on US employment rates. The US reached the highest number ever for unemployment during covid, and now in 2023 unemployment rates are still looking scary. 

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics "Total civilian employment, as measured by the Current Population Survey (CPS), fell by 21.0 million from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020, while the unemployment rate more than tripled, from 3.6 percent to 13.0 percent. This was the highest quarterly average unemployment rate in the history of the CPS." 

https://www.bls.gov/cps/effects-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic.htm 

Answer 2

The recession induced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic did in fact result in steep job losses globally. The US Bereau of Labor Statistics says, "The U.S. labor market continued to recover in 2021 from the recession caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Both the number of people who were unemployed and the unemployment rate decreased over the year. Although both measures are still above their prepandemic levels, the number of unemployed fell by 4.1 million over the year, to 6.8 million, and the unemployment rate decreased by 2.6 percentage points, averaging 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021. The employment–population ratio increased by 1.8 percentage points, to 59.2 percent, while the labor force participation rate showed more modest improvement, increasing by 0.3 percentage point during the year, to 61.8 percent in the fourth quarter. The numbers of unemployed on temporary layoff and those unemployed for 27 weeks or longer decreased over the year, but both measures are still above their prepandemic levels. The number of people working part time for economic reasons returned to its prepandemic level, and the number of self-employed increased by 7.8 percent in 2021."

https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2022/article/us-labor-market-shows-improvement-in-2021-but-the-covid-19-pandemic-continues-to-weigh-on-the-economy.htm 

Comments

Going forward, it's best to dig deeper and find a source that isn't listed within the claim itself. That would make for a stronger fact-check.

Answer 3

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment soared in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the pandemic put an end to the "decade-long expansion" that the United States had been experiencing prior to 2020.

As the site states, "Total civilian employment fell by 8.8 million over the year, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the economic expansion to a sudden halt, taking a tremendous toll on the U.S. labor market. The unemployment rate increased in 2020, surging to 13.0 percent in the second quarter of the year before easing to 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Although some people were able to work at home, the numbers of unemployed on temporary layoff, those working part time for economic reasons, and those unemployed for 27 or more weeks increased sharply over the year."

https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2021/article/unemployment-rises-in-2020-as-the-country-battles-the-covid-19-pandemic.htm

Comments

Nice explanation and quote. Going forward, it's best to dig deeper and find a source that isn't listed within the claim itself.

Answer 4

According to Congressional Research service, unemployment rates in 2020 were so low they were compareable to the recession in 1948. Covid was during 2020, lockdowns were in place, causing less consumer spending which means the need and funding for workers would go down. Making the unemployment rate rise. Meaning unemployment rates increased due to covid.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46554/9

Comments

You wrote "unemployment rates in 2020 were so low they were compareable to the recession in 1948." Do you mean they were so so high? That seems to make more sense.

Answer 5

It is true. According to the report from Congressional Research office, In April 2020, the unemployment rate reached 14.8%, which is the highest rate observed since data collection began in 1948. The leisure and hospitality sector lost the largest number of jobs since January 2020.

https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46554.pdf

Comments

Don't forget to add a rating for your fact-checks (re: true, false, misleading, opinion, etc.)

Answer 6

This is most likely a true and valid inference. The source quoted in the claim is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is a reliable source. Many other reliable sources linked below also support this statistic.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/tracking-the-covid-19-economys-effects-on-food-housing-and (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46554.pdf (Congressional Research Service)

Answer 7

COVID-19 started in 2020, and since then we've been witnessing many changes. We witnessed many people dying and to answer this statement, we watched many people lose their job. I had many friends' families that were affected financially by COVID.

According to an article by Monthly Labor Review, the pandemic resulted in steep job losses and pushed the employment rate to a high of 13.0% in the second quarter of 2020, and caused many people to leave the labor force.

The jobless rate continued to trend downward and by 2021 it was 4.2% and 2.6% points below the rate from the prior year. The article also mentions jobless rates for younger workers declined more than the rates for older workers.

The article does a good job explaining and proving percentages for all races, ethnicities, ages, class groups, etc. If anyone wants to look into it more.

As much as we witnessed the unemployment rate increase, we also watched many businesses go out of business and completely shut down. So it is clear COVID-19 made a huge impact on the labor force.

Article: https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2022/article/us-labor-market-shows-improvement-in-2021-but-the-covid-19-pandemic-continues-to-weigh-on-the-economy.htm#:~:text=The%20recession%20induced%20by%20the,to%20leave%20the%20labor%20force.

Answer 8

This is true, Unemployment rates have increased due to COVID-19! Pew Research Center notes that "Employment in February 2021 was 8.5 million less than in February 2020, a loss that could take more than three years to recoup . . ." There was a significant drop of employment after the COVID-19 pandemic over the course of a year. It'll take a few years before we can expect unemployment rates to drop.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/14/u-s-labor-market-inches-back-from-the-covid-19-shock-but-recovery-is-far-from-complete/

Answer 9

COVID-19 increased unemployment rates. 

From cbpp.org, 
"The unemployment rate jumped in April 2020 to a level not seen since the 1930s — and stood at 4.9 percent in October 2021, compared with 3.5 percent in February 2020. That official unemployment rate, moreover, understated job losses."

"There were still 4.2 million fewer jobs in October 2021 than in February 2020."

This claim is true but I would suggest to consider the last part of the first quote, "Understated job losses"

Comments

So when you say to consider "understated job losses," you think that unemployment was actually higher than what was reported?

Answer 10

According to an article called "How can the Unemployment Rate Rise while Jobs are Created", quotes, "February 2020, the month before the pandemic hit, 63.3 percent of Americans were working or participating in the job market. But by April 2020, that number dipped to 60.2 percent". This prove show the employment rate did drop 3% in a span of 2 months, which was around the start of the pandemic. Which proves that the pandemic resulted in a loss of jobs.