Majority of unemployment claims in the US filed by women, according to leading macroeconomic influencers

Women accounted for majority of the 30 million workers who filed for unemployment benefits in the US in the last two months. The unprecedented surge in claims has made it difficult for states to clear them. While some experts recommend an increase in unemployment benefits others warn that it may lead to more unemployment as workers may be reluctant to return to work.

Shoshana Grossbard

Shoshana Grossbard, professor of Economics emerita at San Diego State University, shared an article on how women filed the majority of the unemployment claims in 17 states in the US due to the closure of schools and workplaces.

Women working as waitresses, hairdressers and cosmetologists, retail salespeople, bartenders, and childcare workers were some of the hardest hit by the lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19.

In 17 states, women filed the majority of new unemployment claims in the weeks after their governors closed schools and workplaces to curb the spread of the #coronavirus https://t.co/aQNtSahxdb pic.twitter.com/l6VtyDBFLm

— Shoshana Grossbard w model of marriage & hh prodn (@econoflove) April 30, 2020

Peter Morici

Peter Morici, an economist and Business Professor at the University of Maryland, shared his interview on how increasing unemployment benefits can lead to a spike in unemployment rates. In the interview, he notes that unemployment benefits can help in the short-term but in the long-term the impact of small businesses will be huge.

Morici added that once the lockdown restrictions are lifted, employers should be provided with money to hire workers instead of providing workers with unemployment benefits.

Expanded unemployment could help short-term but what’s the long-term impact on small businesses? USITC’s Former Chief Economist, @PMorici1, breaks it down.https://t.co/3bEZz6IOMP

— Fox & Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) April 30, 2020

Gregory Daco

Gregory Daco, Chief US Economist at Oxford Economics, tweeted a chart depicted the estimated decline in US GDP in the second quarter of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that the GDP fell by 4.8% in the first quarter, which is largest contraction since the global financial crisis in 2008.

Daco estimated that the GDP contraction in the second quarter to be 40%, which will be the largest since the World War II.

A perspective on the Global #Coronavirus Recession:

Q1: Deepest #GDP contraction since GFC
Q2: Likely deepest since WWII (start of quarterly data)

via @OxfordEconomics @SoberLook pic.twitter.com/YzLAtgWjyC

— Gregory Daco (@GregDaco) April 30, 2020

Daniel Lacalle

Daniel Lacalle, chief economist at Tressis SV, tweeted statistics related to the GDP contraction in the Eurozone. Across 19 countries in Europe, the GDP contracted a higher rate of 14.4% in the first three months of 2020 compared to a 4.8% decline in the US.

The higher drop is due to the implementation of lockdown earlier than the US.

Across the 19 countries in the Eurozone, GDP shrank by 14.4% on an annualized basis, exceeding the 4.8% decline in the US over the same period. @WSJ pic.twitter.com/NvshyX0tZ3

— Daniel Lacalle (@dlacalle_IA) April 30, 2020

Harry A. Patrinos

Harry A. Patrinos, an education economist and manager at the World Bank, tweeted an article on the impact of lockdown on education. He noted that each additional year of schooling equates to 10% of future lifetime earnings. School closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic will result in lost future earnings.

Patrinos added that the cost to the future earnings due to school closures will be an estimated $2.5tn or 12.7% of GDP for the US and $10tn globally.

https://twitter.com/hpatrinos/status/1255816352662786049