Between the end of March and the beginning of August, over 1 million people applied for unemployment insurance - each week. At the height of the pandemic, nearly 15% of working Americans were unemployed and in total, over 50 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance since March.
Because of the massive influx of unemployment insurance applicants, millions of people reported their unemployment benefits, which they have paid taxes towards for years, were delayed. Or never came at all. And millennials, who are currently between the ages of 24 and 38, may be the group hit hardest by the economic turmoil of the pandemic.
According to Pew Research Center, 35% of Americans between ages 18 and 29 and 30% of those between ages 30 and 49 say they or someone in their household has lost their job.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also indicates that among those who are unemployed, millennials are facing longer-stretches of joblessness.
CNBC Make It spoke with young unemployed workers and economists to hear how millennials have been impacted by unemployment and learned how the pandemic has laid bare the critical role of our unemployment system, as well as its flaws.
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