COVID-19: Reality check on U.S. jobs and economy

COVID-19

Line for food bankHundreds of people wait in line for bags of groceries during a food pantry, sponsored by Healthy Waltham for those in need due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, at St. Mary’s Church in Waltham, Mass., Thursday, May 7, 2020. In the past month more than 7,500 bags of food have been donated to the community. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

GUEST: John Quelch, Dean of the Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami.

This past April will be remembered as the worst month for American workers since the Great Depression. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7 percent in April, the highest rate since the 1930s. More than 20 million jobs were lost last month as the result of the coronavirus pandemic.

As workers and their families struggle with loss of income and uncertainty – corporations, small businesses, and U.S. policy makers are scrambling to find a way out of this downward economic spiral.

But at what cost? And will efforts to re-open the economy too early end up costing further loss to livelihood – and lives – down the road?

To discuss the U.S. economy, we were joined by John Quelch – Dean of the Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami.