Unemployment Rate in the Big U.S. Cities

The unemployment rate in some of the US’s biggest cities represents a serious challenge. For example, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the jobless rate in New York, Los Angeles, as well as other major urban areas increased and, in some cases, surpassed 20%.

Importantly, the unemployment rate is a barometer of financial hardship for American families. It makes sense, as when a person loses his or her job, this could lead to a significant drop in household income. Moreover, a 20% rate means 1 in 5 Americans are not able to find work.

Furthermore, the unemployment rate is significantly higher compared to the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

New York is the largest city in the U.S. It is also a major tourism and entertainment hub. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of people lost their jobs. In June, the unemployment rate reached 20.4% according to the information provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result, compared to May, the jobless rate increased from 18.3% to 20.4%. Notably, since April 261,000 New Yorkers lost their jobs.

Interestingly, the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 11.1% in June. For example, in April, the jobless rate was higher by more than 3%. However, in the case of New York, the number of unemployed people rose in June.

Unemployment and coronavirus pandemic

As stated above, the jobless rate in some of the biggest cities once more underlines the severity of the problem. The unemployment rate in the second-largest U.S. city slightly fell in June.

However, the number is still quite impressive. In June, the number of unemployed people in Los Angeles fell to 19.5.%. However, the jobless rate could still have increased due to rising coronavirus cases in California. Importantly, Gov. Gavin Newsom made the decision to close bars and to suspend indoor activities for restaurants and other businesses. He was forced to make this decision due to these rising cases.

Besides New York and Los Angeles, the country’s third-largest city is also struggling to deal with the jobless rate. The metro area of Chicago saw its unemployment rate grow to 16.1% in June.

The coronavirus pandemic created a lot of problems for the big cities across the country.