49 Percent Of U.S. Companies Expect Layoffs “In The Next Three Months”

49 Percent Of U.S. Companies Expect Layoffs “In The Next Three Months” As Unemployment Heads To Great Depression Levels By Michael Snyder If the U.S. economy remains in shutdown mode for the next several months, we are going to witness layoffs like we have never seen before in U.S. history. Of course what we have already witnessed is difficult to believe. Last week more than 3.2 million Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, and that was more than four times higher than the previous all-time record. This week another massive surge is expected, and we will continue to see lots more layoffs for as long as this pandemic persists. It is going to be a very challenging time for the country as a whole, because we haven’t seen anything like this since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Yes, shutting down most of the nation is saving lives, but it is also absolutely crippling our economy. According to a survey that was conducted from March 20th to March 26th by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, almost half of all U.S. companies say that it is likely that they will be conducting layoffs at some point “in the next three months”… Forty-nine percent of companies told Challenger, Gray & Christmas they are very or somewhat likely to conduct layoffs in the next three months, while 11% reported they have conducted permanent layoffs; another 7% have conducted temporary layoffs. If that actually happens, can you imagine what that will do to our unemployment rate? I know that this may sound really crazy, but at this point the St. Louis Fed is projecting that we will soon see a 32 percent unemployment rate… Millions of Americans already have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus crisis and the worst of the damage is yet to come, according to a Federal Reserve estimate. Economists at the Fed’s St. Louis district project total employment reductions of 47 million, which would translate to a 32.1% unemployment rate, according to a recent analysis of how bad things could get. Could things really get that bad so quickly? If we do see a number that high, it would surpass even the highest unemployment rates that we witnessed during the Great Depression of the 1930s. READ MORE http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/49-percent-of-u-s-companies-expect-layoffs-in-the-next-three-months-as-unemployment-heads-to-great-depression-levels