Unemployment Rate Breaks Record High

We're seeing more and more of it daily: businesses in the Treasure Valley closing by choice before, or as chosen for them as of yesterday after Idaho Governor Little announced a state wide order to stay at home and close all non-essential businesses.

With all of these businesses shutting down, people are out of work. The first is coming up and people need help paying their bills, which is obvious with the current influx of unemployment claims.

The Idaho Department of Labor says that their typical 500 claims a day jumped up to 4,000 per day. The rest of the country looks the same too.

Nearly 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, which is more than quadruple the 1982 record, as businesses nationwide were forced to close due to the coronavirus crisis.

The AP reports that as job losses rise, some economists say the nation’s unemployment rate could approach 13 percent by May. Compare that to the highest jobless rate during the Great Recession, which ended in 2009, where it was at 10 percent. And even crazier is that unemployment was at a 50-year low of 3.5 percent just last month before all of this really started spiraling in the US.

While more people are out of work day by day, think of ways to help out your friends, family and community. Shop local, buy local when you can and help your neighbors!