The U.S. lost a stunning 22 million jobs in March and April at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, with only about half of those numbers returning in the following seven months. With weekly jobless claims remaining high, voters might want to know more about what former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump intend to do on the issue of labor.
Biden has pledged to do whatever it takes to help jobs recover through direct stimulus payments. His plan includes funding for state and local governments to keep essential workers on their payrolls and federal payouts to supplement state unemployment checks.
Meanwhile, Trump favors tax cuts and deregulation to stimulate the economy but concedes that another infusion of cash stimulus is likely needed. The president also extended federal unemployment benefits for six weeks after they were set to expire in July but at a lower rate of $300 a week, half the amount of the earlier benefit.
Both candidates support tax incentives for manufacturers to keep jobs at home. Biden even proposes tax penalties for those businesses that ship manufacturing jobs overseas with the intention of selling finished products back into the U.S.
Whoever wins the election in November faces a daunting task, with millions still out of work, consumer spending slowing down, and a resurgence in coronavirus cases adding to the economic woes.
Read More on Trump and Biden's Plans:
Trump vs. Biden on Raising the Federal Minimum Wage
Biden vs. Trump on Student Loans and Higher Education
Jerome Powell says the outlook for the U.S. economy is "extraordinarily uncertain."
Health departments around the U.S. that are using contact tracers to contain coronavirus outbreaks are scrambling to bolster their ranks.
The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics, reasserting a commitment to abortion rights over fierce opposition from dissenting conservative justices in the first big abortion case of the Trump era.
Stocks closed sharply lower on Wall Street as the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases in the U.S. hit an all-time high.
The House of Representatives has passed a Washington, DC statehood bill. The bill is unlikely to make it through the senate as republicans oppose adding more representatives, likely democrat, to congress.
Ja'Ron K. Smith, deputy assistant to President Trump, talks White House progress on police reform and how the president is working to uplift Black and Brown communities.
Texas and Florida clamped down on bars again Friday, and the White House coronavirus task force, led by Vice President Pence, held its first briefing in nearly two months.
TJ Ducklo, National Press Sec. for Joe Biden talks Biden campaign strategy and August DNC.
Former Massachusetts governor and co-chair of American Bridge, Patrick Deval talks House police reform bill and need for republicans to stop governing out of fear.
A government watchdog says nearly 1.1 million relief payments totaling some $1.4 billion went to dead people in the government’s coronavirus aid program.
