Then again for the part of that which is related to corona it’s mostly through the mechanism of temporary unemployment, where the state takes over paying part of the paycheck for the duration of the time that the workers can’t work, and they are expected to return to their jobs once the lockdown is over. Of course not all companies will survive post-corona but it seems like an approach that potentially better preserves the social and economic tissue.

cf https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/business/france-coronavir... (not about Belgium, but the approach is common to multiple EU countries)

Canada too, up to 75% of the payroll, for companies with 30%+ decline in revenue. It will take weeks to roll though, it is all promises as of now

The US' unemployment rate was much, much lower than many western European unemployment rates prior to coronavirus, so it doesn't make sense to compare the absolute number here - instead you should be comparing relative figures. The US' unemployment rate has tripled in the past 2 weeks based on this analysis.