Before the outbreak of Covid-19 (commonly known as the Coronavirus) occurred in early March 2020, the US economy was experiencing growth that had not been seen in decades. Wages were rising, unemployment was plummeting and household wealth was at its highest ever for many Americans. The stated unemployment rate in this country was a mere 3.5%… a level not seen in 50 years. What a difference a month makes!

As the US economy went into shutdown (now some 50 days in), and despite trillions of dollars of stimulus infused by the US government, the private sector lost more than 20 million jobs in the month of April alone. Think about that… 20 million Americans now in search of work that were gainfully employed a month ago. These are staggering statistics to say the least.

This Friday May 8^th, 2020, the next jobs report is due to come out and it quite possibly could be another 5 million filings for unemployment bringing the total to > 35 million Americans out of work. To give you some perspective, 800,000 workers lost their jobs in the worst month of the 2008 financial crisis, and the worst monthly loss ever recorded was 2 million jobs post WWII. At a minimum, the United States has been plunged into a recession, its just a question of how deep, and how long will the recovery take?

For me, I bet on the resolve of Americans to pull together, to help each other out, and to get back to earning a living with good old-fashioned hard work. This pandemic will not keep this country down for long!