The US economy lost a staggering 20.5 million jobs in April, the steepest plunge in payrolls since the Great Depression and the starkest sign yet of how the coronavirus pandemic is battering the world's biggest economy.
The Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report today also showed the unemployment rate surging to 14.7% last month.
The increase shattered the post-World War Two record of 10.8% touched in November 1982. The bleak numbers strengthen analysts' expectations of a slow recovery from the recession caused by the pandemic, adding to a pile of dismal data on consumer spending, business investment, trade, productivity and the housing market.