Historic unemployment. The U.S. Department of Labor reported the nationwide unemployment rate hit 14.7 percent in April. With 20.5 million jobs lost in the worst month on record, it is the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression. Source: AP
S.C. Unemployment. In South Carolina, weekly unemployment claims have dropped for the third week in a row, with 46,000 new claims this week. More than 450,000 South Carolina workers have filed for unemployment in the last seven weeks. Source: P&C
7,000. Yesterday, South Carolina broke 7,000 cases of the coronavirus, with 467 in Charleston County. Source: City Paper
Back to the year 2000. South Carolina’s tourism director, Duane Parrish, predicted that tourism revenues would drop by half for 2020 to levels last seen in 2000 and 2001. Charleston saw seven consecutive record-breaking years for tourism impact, with 2019 generating $9.67 billion. Source: P&C
Deaths of despair. A public health group, Well Being Trust, is raising concerns that as many as 75,000 Americans could die so called “deaths of despair” — suicide, drug, or alcohol abuse — in connection to the coronavirus pandemic. Source: CNN
#IRunwithMaud. Runners in South Carolina and across the country are running 2.23 miles on May 8 to honor Ahmaud Arbery, a Georgia man who was shot and killed for jogging in a predominantly white neighborhood. He would have been 26 on May 8. After the video of his murder went viral two months after his killing, his alleged killers were arrested on May 7 by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Source: Live 5
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