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Pandemic sends US jobless rate to 14.7%

US unemployment hit its highest level since the 1930s as coronavirus struck the economy.

US unemployment hit its highest level since the 1930s as coronavirus struck the economy. Chris Low of FHN Financial discusses the likely long-term impact of the loss of more than 20 million jobs in the space of one month. Also in the programme, we examine the rapid uptake of home working, and consider its implications. We hear the experiences of three people around the world who have recently been working from home, and talk to Janet Pogue McLaurin, an expert in workplace design at architects Gensler in Washington, about how the office of the future might change. And we examine possible changes to make offices safer with Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation in Brussels. Plus, with considerable uncertainty surrounding the future of entertainment venues around the world, we get the perspective of Oliver Reese, artistic director of the Berliner Ensemble in Germany.

(Picture: A row of closed shops in Los Angeles. Picture credit: AFP.)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Fri 8 May 2020 21:32GMT

Broadcast

  • Fri 8 May 2020 21:32GMT