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Coronavirus Hitting Younger, Less Educated Workers Hardest

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California's unemployment rate may now be at a whopping 20%. That's the estimate of a new study from the California Policy Lab that analyzed about a month's worth of unemployment claims during the pandemic.

Younger and less educated workers have been disproportionately affected. That's in part because a lot of them work retail and food industry jobs, many of which have been lost because of the outbreak. One out of every three people working in hotels or food services applied for benefits.

The health care industry has not been immune. It saw the third highest number of claims in recent weeks.

In the three-week period from March 22 to April 11, California saw 2.6 million unemployment claims.

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The highest three-week total during the Great Recession was fewer than 300,000.

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Study Estimates 1 In 5 Californians Have Applied For Unemployment

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