With two-thirds of the country under stay-at-home orders (we're waiting on you to do the same, other third), more than 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. That doubles the record set the week before as the U.S. economy basically comes to a virtual standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The AP reports that the unemployment rate could reach 15 percent, which would shatter the previous record of 10.8 percent, which was set during the 1982 recession. I've seen some numbers even higher, saying that the unemployment rates could get up to 33%.

Some economists fear that there will be as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April, more than double the 8.7 million jobs lost during the Great Recession. And that's just by the end of April, which doesn't look like it'll be even close to the end of this pandemic.

My aunt and uncle own a restaurant that's been forced to have to-go orders only, which is barely enough to stay afloat on. One of my best friends owns a hair salon, she's had to shut down and lay off her employees. She's looking at business loan options since she can't file for unemployment as a business owner. It's so sad. I really hope rent and mortgage relief is coming soon for Americans. We need it.

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