April 23, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement on the latest jobless claims report:
“America cannot get back to work quickly enough as another 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment this past week, bringing the five week total to more than 26 million Americans thrown out of work as much of the private sector was shuttered to achieve social distancing. When combined with the 5.8 million unemployed prior to the shutdown, it is reasonable to assume that there are now more than 30 million out of work Americans, bringing the likely unemployment rate from 16.5 percent to 19 percent. This triples the jobs lost during the last recession and is approaching Great Depression levels of unemployment.
“The real economic danger is that many of the small businesses forced to lay off their workers will remain shuttered once the economy is re-opened leaving vast numbers of those recently unemployed without job options moving ahead. This is why Americans for Limited Government has created the Keep America Working project with the new take action website: www.ReopenAmericaNow.org
“For those with health concerns, it is important to remember that the poverty being created by this government-created recession is deadly. The United Nations is now predicting that hundreds of thousands of children around the world will die as a direct result of the COVID-19 cure. Others predict that suicides, drug addiction and overdoses along with deaths from other diseases will skyrocket as a result of the devastation caused by the Chinese virus cure. Getting back to work now in a smart way is the only way to balance the health and economic disaster engulfing the nation with public health concerns related to COVID, so we can get back on the path to prosperity. 30 million unemployed Americans demand an opportunity to get back to work, it is time to Reopen America Now.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.
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