CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The economic toll of the coronavirus outbreak is reaching a historic level. New unemployment numbers from the Labor Department show that jobless claims have now topped 30 million.
In North Carolina, some 800,000 people have filed for unemployment because of COVID.
According to Mark Vitner, Senior Economist with Wells Fargo, 159,000 jobs will be lost in the Charlotte metro area this year. He forecasts the state unemployment rate could hit 12% in April.
Friday is the first of the month. Fear is growing for many and rent is due. In North Carolina, nearly 29,000 people filed for benefits on Wednesday.
“Every claim represents a family on the edge, and they need to be attended to as soon as possible and we're going to see to this,” Governor Cooper said on Thursday. He says 400,000 people have been paid claims and close to $1 billion has been handed out.
In Mecklenburg County, some businesses can reopen Thursday, a step toward improving the economy. Health Director Gibbie Harris says the county is trending toward easing more restrictions.
“I feel confident unless there is some drastic change in the coming days, which we don't anticipate, that we'll be able to move into phase 1 next week,” says Harris.
Even though paychecks are not coming in for many, bills are still due. Evictions have been halted for now but county officials say there have been about 200 more eviction filings since the stay at home order. As of now, courts could reopen June 1st. In total, there are almost 500 eviction hearings that need to be handled.
Some of the members of the Community Recovery Housing Task Force voiced concern over the long-term impacts this could have on renters.
“We’re at a time where people are paying mortgages, paying late, things are hitting people's credit and an eviction is already just a tough thing to get past on your credit. I think about it and it scares me as to what this looks like for renters in the future,” says Kim Graham, Executive Director of the Greater Apartment Association.
The April jobs report will come out Friday. The March report was the worst one the country has seen since the great recession.
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