The novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has upended the US economy, and one group in particular is being hit the hardest.
According to Business Insider, a new survey from the Federal Reserve revealed sobering news about the most vulnerable sector of the population.
In total, 19% of all adults reported losing a job, having hours reduced, or taking unpaid leave in March.
But nearly 40% of people working in February with a household income below $40,000 reported that they'd lost a job in March.
This drop in work was also reflected in incomes, which fell 23% during the month.
Last week's April jobs report showed that 20.5 million jobs were erased in the month, and that the unemployment rate spiked to 14.7%.
That's the highest since the Great Depression. Job losses were most concentrated in leisure and hospitality, which typically offers low paid work.
This reversal of economic fortune has caused a level of pain that is hard to capture in words, as lives are upended amid great uncertainty about the future. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell