April’s unemployment data showed that 110 months’ worth of jobs were destroyed. In the past, on average, recovering all those jobs took far longer than the destruction.
This is logical. Homes are destroyed by natural disasters in a moment. Rebuilding takes months.
Officially, 20.5 million jobs were destroyed in April. This number is based on a survey taken between April 12 and April 18. Since then, 11.5 million new claims for unemployment were filed.
While the losses are certainly higher than the official numbers show, we can use reported numbers to understand how long it might take to recover from the losses.
The chart here shows the general trend during recessions. It shows the number of people with jobs in the economy. There are always job losses in recessions.
READ MORE: Recession: When Employment Craters
