The US unemployment rate exploded to 14.7% in April as 20.5 million people officially left the workforce, with millions more people leaving full-time work and others not even trying to find new jobs. April's job losses were more than 10 times the 1.9 million reported in September 1945 as the US demobilized from World War II.
Once you've absorbed that, there's more:
- Illinois has passed 3,000 Covid-19 deaths, meaning more people have died of the disease in Illinois than died nationwide in the 9/11 attacks.
- The Justice Department dropped charges against former Trump aide Michael Flynn, despite him pleading guilty twice in Federal court to the same charges, signaling that William Barr has almost completely dismantled the independent agency from within.
- Eight billionaires have added $1bn more to their wealth each since the pandemic began, with the rest splitting over $270bn in additional wealth, even as millions of Americans wonder where their next meals will come from.
- The Atlantic has a "guide to staying safe as states reopen." Hint: not a lot will change without a vaccine.
- When we do finally open, Citylab predicts transit agencies won't recover for years.
- Writer Sophie Sills laments being alone during the pandemic. One sympathizes.
- Chicago will get near-record cold tonight, with a hard frost predicted for the suburbs. The polar vortex has slipped into southern Ontario as temperatures climb in Alaska and the Yukon, which will cause March-like cold weather here for the next week or so.
Finally, today is the 75th anniversary of V-E Day, when the Nazi army finally surrendered to the Allies, ending the war in Europe. Germans celebrated the event today as a day of liberation from the Nazis.