Photo essay: What unemployment looks like in pandemic America

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The numbers tell one story. Following an almost unimaginable spike to 6.9 million new unemployment claims in late March, the number of unemployed Americans has gradually settled to around 1.4 million new claims per week.

Prior to the pandemic, claims had never been above 700,000. But that still puts the unemployment rate at 11.1%—higher than the Great Recession peak. While some states have been spared the worst (Montana and Wyoming), others that depend heavily on tourism (Nevada, Florida, and Hawaii) have sustained brutal economic trauma that have many wondering when—and if—the jobs will ever come back. We know already that the pain has not been spread evenly, with Black Americans seeing a much higher spike in unemployment than other groups. Meanwhile with the extra $600 in weekly federal unemployment benefits scheduled to expire (Congress is weighing options for an extension or replacement), and the federal moratorium on evictions ending July 25, many economists fear American families are about to fall off a financial cliff.

And that’s a story the numbers don’t tell. The worry, and fear, and hope, and sense of loss facing those Americans who plunged from one of the tightest job markets in history, into one of the most bleak. They’re braving long lines to register for unemployment. Navigating slow and faulty state systems. Risking their own health to look for work. Wondering whether they’ll be able to work at all if schools don’t reopen in the fall. Joining protests to implore legislators to extend extra federal benefits. They are worried about their future, they’re worried about their health, they’re worried about their kids, and they’re worried about their country.

Here’s what that looks like, as the pandemic of unemployment spreads across the country.