This is an accounting gimmick. The US has clearer unemployment conditions and also has given relief. In countries in the EU (and it varies a lot) you would see they are still employed, but not working and taking a paycut. That's really the same as unemployed.

In any case my comment was about the meaning of having severance in contrast to having a job, not about crisis handling.

If you meant "these days" as specifically in response to the COVID-19 crisis, we don't have basis for a useful comparison. As another commenter pointed out, the US is delivering economic relief primarily in the form of expanded unemployment coverage whereas Europe is taking a myriad of business support measures. Whether one is better than the other is not obvious yet it's effectively what unemployment numbers would reflect.