The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, the Labor Department reported Friday, with a staggering 20.5 million job losses that month underscoring the economic disaster wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic.

The report is some of the worst set of jobless numbers on record, surpassing the lows of the Great Recession of the late 2000s and putting the current economic crisis on par with the Great Depression of the 1930s.

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The numbers provide a glimpse into the depth of the crisis caused by the government-ordered shutdown of the economy, and likely will heighten calls for Congress to pass another massive spending bill to rescue families, businesses and state government budgets.

The first four rescue packages have spent a total of nearly $3 trillion.

Capitol Hill Democrats had already begun working on a “Roosevelt-style” relief package.

“Today’s report makes it abundantly clear that, as this pandemic continues, more must be done to ensure that our economy is ready to surge back once it is safe to reopen,” said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat.

The job market collapsed at a breathtaking pace as state governments’ orders to shutter businesses and stay at home took a toll with massive layoffs.

The unemployment rate was at a five-decade low of 3.5% in February and ticked up to 4.4% in March before skyrocketing in April.

The economic pain across the country likely exceeds the numbers in the government’s report.

The Labor Department noted that many people who lost jobs in April but didn’t look for another one were not counted in the unemployment rate. Those losses were reflected in the decline in working-age Americans who have jobs, which dropped to a record-low 51.3%.

(Excerpt from The Washington Times. Article by S.A. Miller.)

Although unemployment is expected to grow in May, a turnaround is anticipated in June. For encouragement about these statistics, read this USA Today article, “5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Freak Out about the 20.5M Job Losses.”

Nevertheless, as watchmen on the wall, we have to take note that in a few short months ago, the U.S. had functional full employment and in February had reached a 50-year low. Some economists were concerned that the unemployment rate might be too low. In what feels like the blink of an eye, our unemployment numbers match the Great Depression. Our prayers are so needed for:

• The unemployed
• The underemployed
• The college seniors whose job offers have been revoked
• Business owners and other employers who have to make hard decisions
• Economic  leaders and advisers in the Trump Administration, the Fed, Congress

Have you lost your job? Someone you know? Please leave a comment so we can pray for people by name.