More than 17 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past four weeks, a rapid and unprecedented deterioration in the U.S. economy that the nation has decided is necessary to combat the deadly coronavirus by keeping as many people as possible at home.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said Thursday that the U.S. economy is in an emergency and is deteriorating “with alarming speed.” His remarks came shortly after the central bank unveiled over $2 trillion in new loans to keep the economy afloat, while much of the nation goes into a lockdown.
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. Continue reading.