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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    US shed more than 20 million jobs in April, unemployment reaches nearly 15%

    Today’s jobs report suggests the U.S. could be heading back to Great Depression territory. The numbers show more than 20 million jobs were lost last month. That’s more than double the jobs lost during the 2008 recession.

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    By Madeleine Brand • May 8, 2020 • 1 min read

    Today’s jobs report suggests the U.S. could be heading back to Great Depression territory. The numbers show more than 20 million jobs were lost last month. That’s more than double the jobs lost during the 2008 recession. The unemployment rate is now nearly 15% — compared to 25% unemployment in 1933. KCRW looks at the financial crisis today — and lessons from the Great Depression.

    The full episode

    1 of 4
    LA’s Skylight Books stays closed, while other stores reopen
    1. 0:00US shed more than 20 million jobs in April, unemployment reaches nearly 15%You’re reading this
    2. 15:00LA’s Skylight Books is in ‘survival mode,’ preps for safe reopening
    3. 23:24Andrew Ahn’s ‘Driveways’ drama tackles loneliness
    4. 39:05Met Opera’s ‘La Boheme’: Stream for free tonight
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sarah Sweeney

      Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Michell Eloy

      Former Producer/Line Editor, Press Play

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Amy Ta

      Digital News & Culture Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Robert Reich

      professor of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley, former labor secretary under Bill Clinton

    • KCRW placeholder

      David M. Kennedy

      Professor of History at Stanford

      NewsBusiness & EconomyNational

    The full episode

    1 of 4
    LA’s Skylight Books stays closed, while other stores reopen
    1. 0:00US shed more than 20 million jobs in April, unemployment reaches nearly 15%You’re reading this
    2. 15:00LA’s Skylight Books is in ‘survival mode,’ preps for safe reopening
    3. 23:24Andrew Ahn’s ‘Driveways’ drama tackles loneliness
    4. 39:05Met Opera’s ‘La Boheme’: Stream for free tonight
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand