Permanent US Job Losses Over Last 6 Months Rose Fastest In 50 Years

As the pandemic continues, so does the lagging economy — and a spate of now permanent layoffs, CNN reported.

In the past six months, the number of people whose job losses became permanent more than doubled, CNN reported, which marked the fastest increase on record. While some of the layoffs were termed as temporary earlier in the pandemic, the worsening economy has changed that for millions of people in recent weeks.

Those who have permanently lost their jobs are now the biggest-growing facet of the economy. That includes 4.5 million people looking for work, according to CNN. The number encompasses the 742,000 who had temporary jobs run out, and 3.8 million who lost permanent jobs.

A chart provided by CNN showed a steady increase of permanent job losses across the months of the pandemic thus far. Despite millions of others returning to work after losing jobs in March and April, the number of those whose losses became permanent has crawled up from 2.6 million in April to 3.7 million in June, and finally to 4.5 million now.

Among the companies culling mass amounts of jobs are Disney, which announced 28,000 new layoffs, and American Airlines and United Airlines, which cut 32,000 jobs last week, CNN reported.

The situation is not likely to improve in the near future, CNN reported, with JCPenney planning to cut 15,000 jobs ahead of the holiday season as it closes its stores. And the recent announcement that Cineworld, which owns Regal Cinemas, might have to temporarily close over 500 U.S. theaters could foreshadow further losses.

Layoffs are reportedly coming to Brookfield Properties, which will be letting around 20 percent of its workforce go. And Goldman Sachs has had to move forward with what the bank called a “modest” amount of layoffs, around 1 percent of its workforce. That comes out to around 400 people.