White House economic adviser says the unemployment rate is 'likely' to hit 20% in May - Business Insider

Kevin Hassett, senior economic adviser to President Donald Trump, said on Friday that the official unemployment rate will likely hit 20% in May., the highest since the Great Depression, as millions of Americans lose work because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to CNN's Poppy Harlow, Hassett said he had expected that Friday's jobs report could be as high as 20%, adding that the United States is likely to enter a "transition period" in which unemployment would fall. That period will likely come this summer, he said. Prior to the pandemic, Trump had overseen an unemployment rate of around 3.5%, one of the lowest in decades. Employers cut 20.5 million payrolls in April, according to the Friday jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When including discouraged and part-time workers, Hassett said unemployment could hit as high as 25% in May.

Another Trump historical record!

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