---
title: "CNBC: Coronavirus Job Losses Could Total 47 Million, Unemployment Rate May Hit 32%, Fed Estimates"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/47776d90-7cc3-4887-9b02-40059d6438c1
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/cnbc-coronavirus-job-losses-could-total-47-million-unemployment-rate-may-hit-32-fed-estimates-2712672
category: "Regulation"
topics: ["Regulation & legal"]
published: 2020-03-31T21:16:48.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:27:51.390Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/799b6b33f298660c7e570595fbcb0afe4770.jpg
---

# CNBC: Coronavirus Job Losses Could Total 47 Million, Unemployment Rate May Hit 32%, Fed Estimates

**TL;DR:** The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimates that the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a 32.1% unemployment rate and 47 million job losses. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard predicts that the downturn may reverse faster than the 2008 financial crisis.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-03-31. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/cnbc-coronavirus-job-losses-could-total-47-million-unemployment-rate-may-hit-32-fed-estimates-2712672).*

## Story

**Last week, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard** **offered a grim outlook for the U.S. economy****, predicting unemployment would skyrocket to 30 percent by the second quarter of the fiscal year. Now, economists at the Fed’s St. Louis district are warning even that dire projection may have been optimistic.**

**On Tuesday,** **CNBC reported** **that the Fed is now projecting a 32.1-percent unemployment rate, with a total loss of 47 million jobs. That bleak forecast is based on some already staggering statistics, including a record** **3.3 million jobless claims** **filed in the first three weeks of March.**

**One potential consolation is that the downturn may reverse faster than the 2008 financial crisis, which dragged on the U.S. economy for a decade.**

> **During** **a CNBC interview last week****, Bullard said the jobless number “will be unparalleled, but don’t get discouraged. This is a special quarter, and once the virus goes away and if we play our cards right and keep everything intact, then everyone will go back to work and everything will be fine.”**

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- General (sector)
- coronavirus pandemic (topic)
- unemployment rate (topic)
- economic forecast (topic)
- job losses (topic)
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (regulator)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/cnbc-coronavirus-job-losses-could-total-47-million-unemployment-rate-may-hit-32-fed-estimates-2712672). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/47776d90-7cc3-4887-9b02-40059d6438c1).