Question

Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics website and identify the national unemployment rate. How do you interpret this rate? Next, read about the Unemployment Insurance in the chapter on Unemployment. Identify at least two changes to the Unemployment Insurance Policy that were instituted in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis. You can read more about the Unemployment policies here. What might be some of the short-term and long-term consequences of this change.

Answer 1

In US, national rate of unemployment lowered in 42 states, becomes higher in five states and constant in Columbia and other three states. Among these, the unemployment rate in Massachusetts (17.4%) was highest in the month of June 2020. New Jersey came next which comes to 16.6% and New York in the third position (15.7%). The least rate of unemployment (4.3%) was rated in Kentucky.

Unemployment insurance claims had been filed by around 6.8% workers from over 20 countries. Totally, 11.9% workers were unemployed. They filed the claim on the light of certain umemployment benefit systems. In United States, these benefits of insurance has been filed by 14.8% of workforce. 5.1% of a group of workforce received unemployment benefits from their own employers. In Germany, 20% of workforce claimed short-term benefits from government.

Social distancing arena of this period doesn't make any direct harm for the economy. Government and several employers provides certain short term benefits to the employees. Long term consequence include decline in these benefits due to the deflation in the economy market and thereby sometimes job loss too. If Covid-19 continues, it creates long-term negative consequences.