A Staggering Number Of Americans Have Lost Jobs And Federal Efforts Have Done Little To Stop The Bleeding

The New York Times: Virus Throws Millions More Out Of Work, And Washington Struggles To Keep Pace
When the federal government began rushing trillions of dollars of assistance to Americans crushed by the coronavirus pandemic, the hope was that some of the aid would allow businesses to keep workers on the payroll and cushion employees against job losses. But so far, a staggering number of Americans — more than 16 million — have lost their jobs amid the outbreak. Businesses continue to fail as retailers, restaurants, nail salons and other companies across the country run out of cash and close up shop as their customers are forced to stay at home. (Tankersley, 4/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Dire Economic Numbers Intensify Debate Over Lifting Coronavirus Restrictions 
Record-setting jobless claims and dire economic forecasts are giving fresh urgency to the debate within the Trump administration and across the country over how rapidly coronavirus-fueled restrictions should be pared back so the economy can begin its revival. President Trump has expressed eagerness to move quickly, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on CNBC Thursday that he thought the U.S. economy could be ready to reopen by the end of May, “as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues.” (Mitchell, Restuccia and Lubold, 4/9)

The Washington Post: 6.6 Million Americans Filed For Unemployed Benefits Last Week, Bringing The Coronavirus Total To Over 17 Million
The nation has not experienced this magnitude of layoffs and economic contraction since the Great Depression, many experts say, and recovery is unlikely to be swift. President Trump and Congress are racing to pass more relief money, but they failed to strike a deal Thursday on the details. Meanwhile, the $2 trillion package Congress approved last month is barely starting to get out as states and federal agencies that have been gutted for years struggle to process millions of aid applications from small businesses and the newly jobless. (Long and Van Dam, 4/9)

Reuters: High U.S. Unemployment, 2.5 Million Jobs Lost Through 2021: Survey
After a widely expected and sharp drop in the U.S. economy over the next three months, a panel of top business economists sees high joblessness persisting for more than a year in an outcome that would douse hopes for a quick, post-pandemic return to normal. (Schneider, 4/10)

The Hill: More Than 6 Million File For Jobless Benefits As Coronavirus Layoffs Wrack Economy 
Roughly 6.6 million Americans filed new applications for unemployment benefits in the first week of April as the coronavirus pandemic devastates the U.S. economy and forces millions out of work, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department. The 6,606,000 initial claims for unemployment insurance filed between April 1 and 7 dropped slightly from revised, record-high 6,867,000 new applicants during the previous week, extending an unprecedented surge in layoffs. (Lane, 4/9)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus $600 Unemployment Stimulus Coming To California
Californians struggling to find work will receive an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits from a federal stimulus package starting Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, as a deluge of 2.3 million new claims in the last month has the state struggling to get payments to those who have just lost their jobs. The additional relief money approved by Congress means California’s average weekly benefit of $340 will be boosted to $940, while those who get the maximum weekly state benefit will see checks increased to $1,050. The higher benefits will last for four months. (McGreevy, 4/9)

Reuters: Fed Rolls Out $2.3 Trillion To Backstop 'Main Street,' Local Governments
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Thursday announced a broad, $2.3 trillion effort to bolster local governments and small and mid-sized businesses, the latest in an expanding suite of programs meant to keep the U.S. economy intact as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic. (Shcneider, 4/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Fed Expands Corporate-Debt Backstops, Unveils New Programs To Aid States, Cities And Small Businesses
“It’s really an awesome display of creativity and decisiveness—the breadth and diversity of programs,” said Antonio Weiss, a Treasury official in the Obama administration who is now a senior fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. “They are taking a role well beyond any the Fed has played in its modern history, and the economy needs it.” In leading the Fed beyond past efforts to support lending during the Great Depression or after the 2008 financial crisis, Chairman Jerome Powell is pushing deeper into areas of credit and fiscal policy that the central bank has traditionally deferred to elected officials. (Timiraos, 4/9)

Politico: Treasury Expected To Get Started On Stimulus Payments Friday
The Treasury Department on Friday is expected to take the first step in getting economic stimulus payments to millions of Americans, who will get access to the money next week if they have direct deposit bank accounts, according to financial industry sources. Paper checks for people without direct deposit would start going out early next month, though some could take up to five months to reach recipients and there are still unanswered questions about how banks will handle some of them. (Lorenzo, 4/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Crisis Legacy: Mountains Of Debt
The full impact of the coronavirus pandemic may take years to play out. But one outcome is already clear: Government, businesses and some households will be loaded with mountains of additional debt. The federal government budget deficit is on track to reach a record $3.6 trillion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, and $2.4 trillion the year after that, according to Goldman Sachs estimates. Businesses are drawing down bank credit lines and tapping bond markets. Preliminary signs are emerging that some households are turning to credit for funds, too. (Hilsenrath, 4/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Why Doesn’t Flu Tank Economy Like Covid-19?
As one state after another issued economy-wrecking stay-at-home orders to counter the spread of the new coronavirus, skeptics asked a confounding question: Millions of Americans get the flu each year, and tens of thousands die from it. Why doesn’t the flu cause a shutdown?According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 55 million Americans got the flu this season, and as many as 63,000 died. In comparison, more than 450,000 have been diagnosed with Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University, and more than 16,000 have died. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. (McGinty, 4/10)

The New York Times: Everything Is Awful. So Why Is The Stock Market Booming?
What on earth is the stock market doing? Death and despair are all around. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits each of the last two weeks was about 10 times the previous record — and is probably being artificially held back by overloaded government systems. Vast swaths of American business are shuttered indefinitely. The economic quarter now underway will most likely feature Great Depression-caliber shrinkage in economic activity. (Irwin, 4/10)

Boston Globe: Layoffs Reach Staggering Levels For Mass. Hotel, Restaurant, And Construction Workers 
Massachusetts suffered its third straight week of crushing layoffs caused by the coronavirus crisis, with cumulative job losses topping 25 percent for lodging, food, and construction workers.Nearly 139,600 first-time jobless claims were filed in Massachusetts in the week ended April 4, the Baker administration said Thursday. More people have filed jobless claims in the past three weeks than in the prior 78 weeks combined, and workers everywhere know they are vulnerable. (Edelman, 4/9)