Cornerstone Macro chief economist Nancy Lazar argues that job prospects in the United States will improve in 2021 due to the demand for implantation of the ‘repressed’ coronavirus vaccine. It also discusses its outlook for the US dollar and inflation.
The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week fell, but remained high, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to trigger a high number of layoffs.
Figures released on Thursday by the Department of Labor show that 779,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance for the first time in the week ending January 30, down from the 830,000 predicted by Refinitiv economists.
The number has been stubbornly high for months, hovering around four times the pre-crisis level, although it is well below the peak of almost 7 million that was reached when applications for home stay were first issued in March. Nearly 70 million Americans, or about 40% of the workforce, applied for unemployment insurance during the pandemic.
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Continuing claims, or the number of Americans receiving consecutive unemployment insurance, fell to 4.59 million, a decline of about 193,000 from the previous week. The report shows that about 17.8 million Americans were receiving some form of unemployment benefit by January 16, a reduction of 486,405 from the previous week.
Many more Americans are receiving unemployment benefits from two federal programs that Congress established with the approval of the CARES Act in March: one extends aid to self-employed individuals, temporary workers and others who are not normally eligible for benefits, and the other provides aid to those who have exhausted their state benefits.
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The federal government renewed these programs in late December with the approval of a $ 900 billion aid package, which includes an additional $ 300 a week unemployment benefit, a single $ 600 stimulus check for most of adults and new financing for a small business rescue program.
But Congressional Democrats, who saw emergency aid as just the beginning of relief efforts, are moving forward with the approval of an almost $ 2 trillion stimulus package without any Republican support. The proposal, outlined by President Biden in early January, includes $ 160 billion for vaccine distribution and COVID-19 tests, extended unemployment benefits for $ 400 a week through September, and a third stimulus check for $ 1,400.