That is not what they say. They say 2.5 million LOST jobs, which is simply not true.
Another factor not much discussed is extended unemployment benefits. The only person I personally know on unemployment right now is there by choice. She could get a job anytime she wants and will get a job in a minute once her benefits run out (which should be this spring unless they extend it again.)
While surely not true of the vast majority of workers who are bread winners, a goodly percentage of the 147 million people in the labor force are unemployed by choice, have other income sources (Spouse etc.), low living expenses (no kids, payed up mortgage) and will remain unemployed for as long as their benefits continue. This individual considers her free time to be worth the difference in income between what she would earn and what unemployment pays. She uses it to watch her grand kids, saving her son several hundred a month in day care costs, which he kicks some of back to her.)