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
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Friday said the coronavirus pandemic has hit a "plateau" but stressed that putting New Yorkers back to work hinges on the level of testing that is available across the state.
Arkansas is one of four states in the U.S. that has not passed any stay-at-home orders to combat coronavirus, and Governor Asa Hutchinson plans to keep it that way unless cases spike.
Gayle Smith, a former National Security Council member in the Obama Administration, is spreading the message that the U.S. must look beyond its borders to stop coronavirus.
Alabama withdrew triage guidelines that recommend deprioritizing care and life-saving equipment for intellectually disabled individuals on Wednesday following backlash from disability advocates.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state's number of ICU hospitalizations had fallen nearly two percent over the past 24 hours
The S&P 500 index closed out its best week since 1974 with another gain Thursday after the Federal Reserve launched its latest unprecedented effort to support the economy through the coronavirus outbreak.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care, his office says.
Though New York recorded 799 deaths, a record-high number for the third day in a row, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the novel coronavirus has not killed anyone due to a lack of care and said hospitalizations in the state are nearly flat.
Conservative policy analyst Steve Moore says President Donald Trump needs to double down on the economic policies of his first term to win over the electorate amid the pandemic.
The countries reportedly agreed to a cut of 10 million barrels per day for two months. However, the alleged scale of the cut varied widely, from as little as 2 million barrels a day to as much as 20 million barrels a day.
