Article source: ConstructConnect

• The last three weekly initial jobless claims numbers in the U.S. have gone from 282,000 to 3.3 million to 6.6 million. Furthermore, the horrendous increase in the count of people laid off and seeking insurance relief isn’t the whole story. Many companies that are continuing to struggle on are asking their employees to take pay cuts. The economy depends on consumer spending, which has just been gut punched.

• The good news: the arrival in New York of the USNS hospital ship Comfort. The bad news: the crowds of people, not all of whom were wearing protective face masks, that congregated to watch it come into port. The Big Apple has since come under tighter lockdown control.

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Article source: ConstructConnect

• CNN reported Wednesday night (March 31, 2020) that 350,000 retail workers had been placed on furlough since Monday (March 29, 2020), i.e., over a period of just three days. For an individual worker, a furlough may seem no different than a layoff at first, but there is an advantage. A furloughed employee will be able to qualify for unemployment insurance easier because he or she doesn’t have to prove they’re looking for a job. They still have one, even though it’s in limbo. For an employer, once the wheel spins fully around, it will be able to restore its workforce faster and without having to go through vetting hoops.

• In the Great Depression of the early 1930s, the U.S. unemployment rate soared to 24.9% (one-quarter of the workforce). In the Great Recession of 2008-2009, joblessness peaked at 10.0% (one-tenth of the workforce). Some analysts are projecting the unemployment rate this year, 2020, will reach 17.5%. Such a figure has the appearance of taking an easy route to the answer. It’s simply a calculation of the mid-point between 10% and 25%. As a ‘best case’ figure, 20% seems more likely.

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