The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will cost the United States the permanent loss of many more jobs than the nation lost in the midst of the Great Recession more than a decade ago, according to entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

In all, 38.6 million people have filed for initial unemployment aid since mid-March, when lockdowns began in full force across the country. That corresponds to 23.7 percent of the March US labor force.

During his run for president, Yang talked about various forms of economic displacement, such as automation, and solutions for the American people, like universal basic income or a guaranteed $1,000 per month for all American adults.

“Well, the suffering unfortunately is all too real. We’re getting inundated with requests for help at my organization, humanity forward. Nonprofits around the country are seeing the same thing. We have to face facts that 42 percent of these jobs will not come back. You’re looking at essentially long-standing or permanent job loss of 15 million plus and for reference, the Great Recession cost us less than 9 million jobs,” Yang said. “So you’re looking at something almost two times the Great Recession permanently. This is one reason why I’m advocating that our federal government has to pass enormous stimulus measures to keep us from teetering into a new great.”

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