How Europe manages to keep a lid on coronavirus unemployment while it spikes in the U.S.

BRUSSELS — The coronavirus pandemic is sending U.S. unemployment figures to levels that could rival the Great Depression. In Washington, that might feel like the inevitable consequence of a health crisis that has forced a sudden halt to much of the economy. But the situation across the Atlantic suggests the dramatic rise in U.S. unemployment — with 17 million people filing for benefits in the past four weeks — is a choice.