With 793,000 Americans applying for first-time unemployment benefits last week, the need for relief and a boost to the economy is apparent. Heather Boushey, a member of the Biden administration's Council of Economic Advisers, told Cheddar the number of new jobs added across the country has been on a steady decline.
"A couple weeks ago we got data for January's employment situation, and there we saw that the pace of job growth has slowed," she said.
The drastic sweep of job losses has been felt disproportionately by women, many of whom left the workforce to take on family care responsibilities full-time as schools and daycare centers closed in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
According to Boushey, prioritizing economic stimulus initiatives and circulating critical supplies is a surefire way to rejuvenate the economy and will ultimately help schools and daycare centers reopen safely — effectively allowing many women to get back into the labor force.
"The most important thing that we need to get people back to work, to get back to business as usual, is to contain the pandemic, and that's why the American Rescue Plan starts by adding resources for communities and states all across the country to contain the virus, to get those vaccines out, to make sure people have protective gear, to make sure that there's testing widely available, and then the package provides resources to help families, especially those who are out of work, weather this crisis," Boushey noted.
The big question Americans pose now is: when will relief come? Components of the COVID relief bill are being hashed out, particularly whether or not to include a boost to the federal minimum wage of $15. The House of Representatives approved the bill that included the minimum wage hike but Senate Democrats do not appear to be on the same page and might not have the votes to achieve the goal.
"Right now, Congress is working on the legislation. They're doing hearing markups and the extent to which they can move quickly and get their work done and get it to the president's desk to sign," Boushey said. "That is when we'll know when folks can get checks, but it can't happen until Congress acts."
A new poll finds U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think immigrants in the country legally benefit the economy. That comes as President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions targeting legal pathways into the country. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to the economy and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans still see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally.
Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue are bouncing back sharply before the opening bell a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism. Trump told pregnant women not to use the painkiller around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday. The drugmaker tumbled 7.5%. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.
Scott Trench, host of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, explores how recent rate cuts, high borrowing costs, and mortgage rates are reshaping U.S. real estate.
A look into how disruption, AI, and global economic trends are transforming the modern supply chain with Jeremy Jansen, Head of Supply Chain at Wells Fargo.
Delta CSO Amelia DeLuca reveals at the Fast Co. Innovation Festival how tech, sustainable aviation fuel, and smart operations are revolutionizing air travel.
Chipmaker Nvidia will invest $100 billion in OpenAI as part of a partnership that will add at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia AI data centers to ramp up the computing power for the owner of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.
