
An official website of the United States government
In March 2022, 2,514,000 people did not work at all or worked fewer hours at some point in the 4 weeks preceding the survey because their employer closed or lost business due to COVID-19. This number is down from 4,201,000 people in February 2022.
Month | Total | Received pay | Did not receive pay |
---|---|---|---|
May 2020 |
49,839,000 | 8,754,000 | 41,085,000 |
Jun 2020 |
40,368,000 | 6,223,000 | 34,146,000 |
Jul 2020 |
31,281,000 | 3,949,000 | 27,332,000 |
Aug 2020 |
24,225,000 | 2,811,000 | 21,413,000 |
Sep 2020 |
19,385,000 | 2,004,000 | 17,381,000 |
Oct 2020 |
15,070,000 | 1,764,000 | 13,305,000 |
Nov 2020 |
14,805,000 | 2,031,000 | 12,774,000 |
Dec 2020 |
15,819,000 | 2,022,000 | 13,797,000 |
Jan 2021 |
14,755,000 | 1,881,000 | 12,874,000 |
Feb 2021 |
13,348,000 | 1,400,000 | 11,948,000 |
Mar 2021 |
11,391,000 | 1,163,000 | 10,228,000 |
Apr 2021 |
9,378,000 | 871,000 | 8,507,000 |
May 2021 |
7,907,000 | 734,000 | 7,173,000 |
Jun 2021 |
6,209,000 | 621,000 | 5,588,000 |
Jul 2021 |
5,150,000 | 467,000 | 4,683,000 |
Aug 2021 |
5,647,000 | 782,000 | 4,865,000 |
Sep 2021 |
5,032,000 | 780,000 | 4,252,000 |
Oct 2021 |
3,830,000 | 508,000 | 3,322,000 |
Nov 2021 |
3,640,000 | 576,000 | 3,064,000 |
Dec 2021 |
3,101,000 | 493,000 | 2,607,000 |
Jan 2022 |
6,043,000 | 1,435,000 | 4,608,000 |
Feb 2022 |
4,201,000 | 853,000 | 3,348,000 |
Mar 2022 |
2,514,000 | 386,000 | 2,127,000 |
Among those unable to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost business in March 2022, 386,000 people received at least some pay from their employer for the hours not worked, while 2,127,000 people did not receive pay. In February 2022, 853,000 people received at least some pay from their employer for the hours not worked, while 3,348,000 people did not receive pay.
These data are from the Current Population Survey and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — March 2022" and Supplemental data measuring the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the labor market. We also have more charts on employment and unemployment.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 2.5 million unable to work in March 2022 because employer closed or lost business due to COVID-19 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/2-5-million-unable-to-work-in-march-2022-because-employer-closed-or-lost-business-due-to-covid-19.htm (visited March 25, 2025).