20% unemployment would be 'absolute worst case': Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump (Reuters Photo)

US President Donald Trump downplayed warnings that the US unemployment rate could spike to 20 per cent due to the coronavirus pandemic, saying Tuesday the economy is "nowhere near" that point.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reportedly warned Republican senators the jobless rate could reach 20 per cent without a massive government stimulus program, which would be more than double the peak hit during the 2008 economic downturn.

Trump said he did not agree with the estimate.

"That's an absolute total worst-case scenario," he told reporters at the White House. "We're nowhere near it.