one green planet
one green planet

As of May 13, 36 million people have filed for unemployment in the last eight weeks. The government’s reported numbers for unemployment showed an increase of over 6 million from the week before. The numbers have been steadily increasing as businesses were forced to shut down to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The Labor Department puts the unemployment rate in the United States at close to 20%. “This is a very protracted, painful situation for the labor market,” Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, told the New York Times “and I just don’t see anything positive.” Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell said the United States’ economic challenges are “without modern precedent.”

Despite significant government relief packages and economic stimulus checks, many states have backlogs of unemployment claims and 13 states haven’t put the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program from Congress into place yet. The government has spent over $100 billion on unemployment benefits in 2020.

Ernie Tedeschi, an economist at Evercore ISI and former Treasury official, told CNN, “States have been slow to integrate the new emergency payments for regular unemployment insurance beneficiaries, and states have been super slow in implementing the brand new PUA benefits. This shows states have catching up to do.”

Read more about protecting yourself from coronavirus. Check the CDC website for more information on how to protect yourself and check our latest article to learn how COVID-19 differs from the flu.

Scientists believe that the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus, started at an exotic animal market in Wuhan, China. You can help stop the incidence of viruses like these by signing this petition to ban the wildlife trade.

Eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer and has many side effects.

Interested in joining the dairy-free and meatless train? We highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Catch up on our latest coronavirus coverage in One Green Planet, check out these articles:

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