After the Labor Department reported on Friday a staggering 14.7% unemployment rate in April, White House senior economic adviser Kevin Hassett painted an even bleaker picture of the country’s future economic woes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
During Hassett’s interview on CNN, anchor Poppy Harlow brought up the fact that the 14.7% figure doesn’t even cover the full scope of unemployment last month given that the U-6 figure, which includes Americans currently not looking for work, is actually 22.8%.
The White House adviser agreed with her assessment, then put forth a grim prediction of more job losses in May.
“That 22% will probably be 25% in the next report,” he told Harlow. “And hopefully from there it will start to head back in the right direction.”
20.5 million jobs were lost in April, according to the Labor Department, which also noted in its report that “the highest rate and the largest over-the-month increase in the history of the series” dating back to 1948.
Watch Hassett below:
WH senior economic adviser says unemployment rate will "probably be 25% in the next report." pic.twitter.com/LQnGhdfQUU
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) May 8, 2020
