The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the u.S. Labor market: more than 36 million people have lost their jobs in the united states since the crisis came to a head in mid march.
In the week to 9. May, nearly three million people filed initial applications for unemployment benefits, according to the U.S. Department of labor on thursday. In the previous seven weeks, more than 33 million people had already applied for such aid – more than ever before in such a short time.
Before the corona crisis, first-time claims in the world’s roughest economy had recently been mostly below 100.000 per week. The motions are considered a reliable indicator for the short-term development of the U.S. Labor market.
U.S. Unemployment rate stood at 14.7 percent in april. However, due to errors in the collection of data, the competent authority warned that the rate may already be about 20 percent. This is the most dramatic situation in the labor market since the second world war. Before the corona pandemic came to a head in the u.S., the unemployment rate was still an extremely low 3.5 percent.
As a result of the pandemic, most U.S. States had imposed strict exit restrictions, forcing many businesses, factories and restaurants to shut down. Since the beginning of the month, many states have been easing restrictions again – even though the pandemic still appears to be far from under control in many parts of the country and experts are therefore urgently warning against hasty action. However, the loosening of the regulations should have a positive effect on the labor market.
U.S. President donald trump said in an interview with the channel fox business broadcast on thursday with regard to the states: "I want them to open again if they can, if they want to." the country must get back to work. Once again he promised a speedy recovery of the economy. "It will happen quickly." the lost jobs came back, he assured. The country is economically a great next year before. Again, trump also brought up possible payroll tax relief to boost the economy. However, he did not give details.
In the face of the crisis, the government and congress have launched huge stimulus packages since the end of march to pump some 2.7 billion u.S. Dollars into the suffering economy. Democrats in the house of representatives plan to introduce another stimulus package of about $3 billion this week. However, its implementation does not seem likely because the republican majority in the senate opposed it. Trump also said on thursday that the democrats’ proposal had no chance at all.
Trump’s economic adviser larry kudlow had said a few days ago that the administration wanted to wait and see what effects the previous aid had before deciding on possible further economic stimulus.
Until february, the u.S. Economy was still humming, with highs reported on the stock market and experts expecting the economy to grow by a good two percent. But the rapid spread of the corona virus since the beginning of march has ruined the good economic prospects – now the USA is heading for a deep recession because of the corona crisis. This is highly inconvenient for trump: he is running for a second term in the presidential election in november.
The president said that no one blames him for the corona-induced economic slump. He had already led the country to rough economic strong once. This he could do again.