Action Delayed on C-Virus Relief Spending; $600 ‘disincentive’ to Return to Work Ends in July, and Other C-Virus Updates
The White House and its Senate Republican allies have decided to delay action on another massive round of coronavirus spending until July, hopeful that an improving job market will lessen the need to add more borrowing to what is already the nation’s largest deficit in history.
The jobs report for May, showing that employers added nearly 3 million jobs as coronavirus shutdowns ended, has lowered the urgency for the Senate and White House to hold formal negotiations on a proposal to answer the House relief package, which totals $3.5 trillion.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Sunday the administration won’t extend $600-a-week federal unemployment benefits, on top of regular unemployment payments, beyond July because they are a disincentive to work. He said the administration is eyeing instead a smaller “bonus” to encourage people to go back to work.
“We are not going to remove unemployment benefits … there will be some return-to-work benefit,” Mr. Kudlow said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It won’t be quite as substantial. This is a turning point in the economy.”
Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, has proposed a return-to-work bonus that would allow workers to keep up to two weeks of unemployment benefits if they accept a job offer.
Mr. Kudlow said in addition to the encouraging jobs numbers in May, officials are expecting a strong retail sales report Tuesday.
“Already, department and merchandise sales week to week are above year-ago levels,” Mr. Kudlow said.
The president has cautioned aides that the economy “is evolving rapidly,” said White House senior economic adviser Kevin Hassett.
“The economic models are really missing things by a lot,” he said on Fox News. “What we need to do is watch the data come in and then … as we get closer to the end of July, make a judgement of whether the recovery is faster than we thought slower than we thought.”
Most economists had expected employers to shed about 8 million jobs in May, and the surge in hiring caught them by surprise.
Read the rest of the story HERE and follow links below to related stories and resources:
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