Analysis: Unemployment Peaks Interest over Coronavirus, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor Remain Topics of Interest Due to BLM Movement
Coronavirus has been heavily reported on in the U.S since its massive outbreak earlier this year. Since the outbreak back in March, the U.S has had over 6 million Coronavirus cases confirmed and over 190,000 deaths.
The number of cases confirmed per day in the U.S is staggering, at one point having over 75,000 on July 17th, to most recently having just over 50,000 being confirmed on September 4th.
In its wake, Coronavirus has left the country in shambles, leaving millions unemployed and others barely making ends meet.
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate during the pandemic spiked from 4.4% in March to 14.7% in April and as of August, has dropped to 8.4%.
In late July, the extra $600 provided in unemployment benefits expired, leaving millions in financial trouble.
An analysis of Google Trends search data show spikes in the searches of unemployment, its point of interest being Donald Trump’s executive order to fund an additional $400 for unemployment recipients signed on August 8th.
Although Coronavirus is still a significant issue and the number of new cases is still higher than that of the initial outbreak, based on the chart there is a steady decline in the amount of searching being done on Google.
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor Remain Popular Topics with the Help of the BLM Movement.
The Black Lives Matter Movement was started back in 2013 to protest the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of George Zimmerman.
The growth that this movement has had with the help of social media has been astronomical, being used as a hashtag over 3 million times a day, according to CNN, after the murder of another black man named George Floyd.
But this is not the only unjust killing of a Black American this year. Another name has been used along with this hashtag recently, and that name is Breonna Taylor.
Breonna Taylor was a 26 year old emergency room technician who was killed in her own home, on March 13th, during a police raid of her home. Breonna was unarmed and shot 5 times by police.
The analysis of Google Trends search data shows how intertwined the Black Lives Matter Movement and the names of these two people who were unjustly taken from this world appear on this graph.
While Black Lives Matter leads in searches, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor searches are not far behind. Hopefully, this trend continues, as Americans all over the U.S continue to fight for justice in these two cases and keep their names and memories alive.
