Friday's horrific April nonfarm payroll report from the Labor Department left economists agape. According to Business Insider, the US economy lost a record 20.5 million jobs, and the unemployment rate surged to 14.7%. It was the largest drop on record, erasing nearly a decade of gains. Women bore most of the job losses, and lower income workers have been hit hardest by coronavirus-induced layoffs. People dropped out of the labor force en masse, and only about half of workers currently have a job. There's no part of the economy that is really escaping unscathed right now. The report just reflects incalculable human suffering. Martha Gimbel, Economist Schmidt Futures
