Lawmakers Say Protests Ramp Up Urgency To Send Federal Aid To Struggling States, Cities
States have been asking for federal aid as they struggle under the financial burden of the pandemic. The protests in recent weeks have only exacerbated the problem, they say. In other news on the economic toll of the outbreak: unemployment benefits, jobless numbers and a forecast for recovery.
The Wall Street Journal:
Some Lawmakers Argue Unrest Heightens Need For Aid To States And Cities
Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers pushing to secure more state and local aid in the next stimulus package said the unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd has magnified the need to fill holes in local public-safety budgets. “The case is being built for our bill by the events that we’re currently witnessing,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), who has sponsored legislation that would provide $500 billion in emergency funding to state and local governments to cover revenues lost by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting partial economic shutdown. (Peterson and Andrews, 6/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
Kudlow Urges Replacing Unemployment-Benefit Boost With Return-To-Work ‘Bonus’
A senior economic adviser to President Trump said Sunday the U.S. needs to stop providing a $600-a-week boost in unemployment benefits instituted in response to the coronavirus pandemic and replace it with a smaller bonus for workers who return to their jobs. Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the additional benefits might be dissuading some Americans from going back to work as businesses reopen across the country. (Tracy, 6/14)
Politico:
Kudlow Says $600 Additional Unemployment Checks Will End In July
"That might have worked for the first couple of months. It'll end in late July," he added, saying the extra benefit was necessary during the height of the coronavirus lockdowns. Kudlow said that "almost all businesses" understand the $600 additional benefit is "a disincentive." He said the Trump administration is instead "looking at a reform measure" that will provide an incentive for returning to work, but it will not be as substantial. (Tamborrino, 6/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Differences Between New Coronavirus And SARS Show Why Quick Economic Recovery Is Unlikely
To see what economic recovery from Covid-19 could look like, some people are examining the closest modern equivalent: Hong Kong in 2003. That is when the territory’s economy was ravaged by severe acute respiratory syndrome—another epidemic caused by a coronavirus—and then staged a remarkable comeback in less than a year. The outbreak started early in the year; by May, Hong Kong’s economy was reopening—like today. So speedy was the recovery that eight months after patients first hit hospitals, Hong Kong was hosting a $100 million concert series featuring the Rolling Stones, Prince and Neil Young. (Dvorak, 6/12)
The New York Times:
Don’t Cheer Too Soon. Keep An Eye On The Core Jobless Rate.
The recent jobs report for May seemed to bring good news: more jobs and lower unemployment. But the coronavirus pandemic has broken most economic charts and models, and all the numbers we regularly watch need a closer look. The decline in unemployment was actually driven by a drop in temporary layoffs. Strip those out, and what remains — let’s call it the core unemployment rate — rose in May. Pause the celebrations. In May, core unemployment stood at 5.0 percent, up from 4.6 percent in April and up from a modern low of 3.7 percent in December 2019. At 5 percent, core unemployment in May was at its highest level since February 2017. (Kolko, 6/15)
NBC News:
Some Landlords Are Using Harassment, Threats To Force Out Tenants During COVID-19 Crisis
Sada Jones anxiously paces inside her apartment every time she catches a glimpse of her building’s maintenance workers through a damaged glass patio door half boarded up with scrap wood that she says her landlord refuses to repair. Jones, 23, a hotel cook, has been unable to make rent payments on her New Orleans-area apartment since being furloughed on March 19 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, she alleges, her landlord began using aggressive tactics to force her out, including cutting off her utilities and sending maintenance workers to demand she leave. (Ali, 6/14)
The Washington Post:
Ripple Effects Of Downturn Show Pandemic’s Early Economic Toll Was Just The Beginning
John Dillivan would normally be breaking in new employees at this time of year, preparing for western Michigan’s summer tourist rush. Instead, for the first time in the 31 years he and his wife, Sue, have owned Pekadill’s, a sandwich shop in Whitehall, Mich., he has no new waitresses or counter help to train. At the neat white clapboard restaurant two blocks from White Lake, business is down about 20 percent. If the situation doesn’t improve, Dillivan worries he may be forced to abandon year-round operations and put Pekadill’s into hibernation this winter. (Lynch, 6/14)
