Immediate priorties: Keeping residents safe, pay bills and put food on the table

America’s unemployment rate is suddenly approaching historic levels.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began almost two months ago, roughly 30.3 million people have filed for jobless benefits.

Nearly 14 million additional people could have filed if unemployment processes were easier, Economic Policy Institute calculates.

With more employers cutting payrolls to survive and skyrocketing business closures and bankruptcies, economists forecast the unemployment rate could exceed 20 percent in May. That would be the highest rate since it reached 25 percent during height of the Great Depression in the earl...