US unemployment rate soars to post-WWII record high: Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve said the Covid-19 pandemic had led to an alarming surge in job losses, "with the US unemployment rate, which had been at a 50-year low, soaring to a post-World War-II record high".

The central bank's remarks were part of its Monetary Policy Report submitted to Congress on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Since February, employers have shed nearly 20 million jobs from payrolls, reversing almost 10 years of job gains, the Fed said in the report, noting that the unemployment rate jumped to a post-World War II high of 14.7 per cent in April and then moved down to a