Fed economists estimate unemployment rate could hit 32 percent

unemployment line.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Economists at the Federal Reserve's St. Louis District are now projecting the unemployment rate in the United States could hit 32.1 percent, placing 47 million people out of work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CNBC reports.

That estimate is up from the 30 percent figure previously publicized by St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. In a research paper published last week, St. Louis Fed economist Miguel Faria-e-Castro said "these are very large numbers by historical standards, but this is a rather unique shock that is unlike any other experienced by the U.S. economy in the last 100 years."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.