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Updated: May 8, 2020

Devastating job losses: Here's who got hit the hardest

By Tami Luhby, CNN Business

Nearly half of restaurant and hospitality workers lost their jobs last month as the coronavirus sparked sweeping closures and curtailments of eating and drinking establishments and hotels.

The pandemic devastated the American jobs landscape in April, according to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. Most major industries shed millions of positions, and unemployment rates skyrocketed to record levels among most major worker groups.

Women and people of color were especially hard-hit relative to white men. Unemployment rates spiked to 15.5% for adult women, 13% for adult men and nearly 32% for teens.

The unemployment rate soared to 14.2% for white workers, 16.7% for black Americans, 14.5% for Asian Americans and 18.9% for Hispanics — record highs for all ethnic groups except African Americans.

Unemployment rates rose sharply among all major worker groups, hitting records for nearly all.

Employment in leisure and hospitality plummeted by 7.7 million, or 47%. Nearly three-quarters of the decline took place in food services and drinking places, but jobs were also lost in arts, entertainment, recreation and accommodation.

Retailers shed 2.1 million positions. Especially hard-hit were clothing and accessories stores, which lost 740,000 jobs.

Health care was not immune to the destruction, even as the pandemic drove many ill Americans to seek care at hospitals. The sector lost 1.4 million jobs, particularly in dentist and doctor offices -- whose patients stayed home amid fears of catching or spreading the coronavirus. More than 500,000 dental jobs vanished last month.

Professional and business services shed 2.1 million jobs, with temporary help services getting hit hard. And manufacturing employment dropped by 1.3 million.

One bright spot: Warehouse clubs and supercenters gained 93,000 jobs.

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