The novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cause millions more people in China to lose their jobs.<br /><br />Economists say many of them will be left stranded without a safety net, unable to access state unemployment benefits.<br /><br />According to Reuters, the rapid spread of the disease around the world has dashed hopes for a quick recovery there.<br /><br />Analysts expect nearly 30 million job losses in China this year due to plummeting global demand.<br /><br />It's particularly bad for roughly 200 million rural migrant workers, who work for low wages and have limited access to public health care. <br /><br />Many were shut out of factories and barred from crossing city lines when China locked down large swathes of the country.<br /><br />One study estimates migrant laborers might have already lost up to $100 billion in wages during the lost working weeks of lockdown earlier this year.
