Tag: economic recovery

The economy isn’t going back to February 2020. Fundamental shifts have occurred.

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A new era has arrived of greater worker power, higher housing costs and very different ways of doing business

The U.S. economy is emerging from the coronavirus pandemic with considerable speed but markedly transformed, as businesses and consumers struggle to adapt to a new landscape with higher prices, fewer workers, new innovations and a range of inconveniences.

In late February 2020, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, inflation was tame, wages were rising and American companies were attempting to recover from a multiyear trade war.

The pandemic disrupted everything, damaging some parts of the economy much more than others. But a mass vaccination effort and the virus’s steady retreat this year has allowed many businesses and communities to reopen. Continue reading.

Vaccine dreams juice jobs report

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Good news for your Friday: the economy added a whopping 379,000 jobs in February — far outpacing expectations. 

Why it matters: Virus cases eased in recent weeks and states lifted restrictions, helping fuel a hiring surge. It’s proof of how much control the pandemic has over the job market.

The clearest signal: The bounce-back was largely driven by hiring in the leisure and hospitality sectors, which came even in the dead of winter. Continue reading.

Mnuchin, Pelosi reach informal deal to avoid government shutdown

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have informally agreed to pursue a clean, short-term stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month, sources in both parties confirmed Thursday.

That means the continuing resolution (CR) needed to keep the government open past Sept. 30 would be free of controversial policy riders that have bogged down previous funding bills, significantly lowering the odds of a shutdown leading up to the crucial Nov. 3 elections.

The tentative deal also means the government funding bill and a new coronavirus relief package being negotiated between Pelosi and Mnuchin would not be part of the same talks. Continue reading.

As Pandemic Derails Economy, Rep. Phillips Proposes Tax Relief for Startups to Spur Innovation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) introduced a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives to provide tax relief to startups that are ineligible for other types of business aid passed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Phillips’s IGNITE American Innovation Act will allow small and mid-size businesses that weren’t able to utilize the CARES Act tax provisions to monetize up to $25 million accumulated tax assets. In addition, the bill will provide a bonus in tax assets generated by research and the development of products that will prevent, diagnose, and treat COVID-19. Phillips is leading the bill with Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-IN).

“I’ve had the privilege of getting to know some extraordinary Minnesota innovators and entrepreneurs as a Congressman and over the course of my career in business,” said Phillips. “Smaller startups and growth companies are unique business models and have to compete against large corporate incumbents – that’s challenging under regular conditions, and even more so during this time of economic uncertainty. These businesses make up large share of new jobs, and we must do more to ensure we have an even playing field so that entrepreneurs and innovators can continue to provide opportunities for the next generation of American workers.”

Specifically, the bill would: Continue reading “As Pandemic Derails Economy, Rep. Phillips Proposes Tax Relief for Startups to Spur Innovation”

GOP shifting on unemployment benefits as jobless numbers swell

The Hill logoFaced with staggering unemployment numbers that are likely to remain elevated through the election, Senate Republicans are reversing their positions on ending a federal increase of state unemployment benefits after July.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed in a conference call with House Republicans last month that Senate Republicans would block the $600 weekly boost to state unemployment benefits from the federal government.

Also last month, GOP senators involved in planning for a phase four coronavirus relief bill said there was overwhelming support for entirely ending the federal enhancement of state unemployment benefits. Continue reading.

Social Security recipients who don’t usually file tax returns will automatically get $1,200 payments, Treasury says in reversal

Washington Post logoMost high school seniors and college students still won’t get any money at all.

The Treasury announced late Wednesday that Social Security beneficiaries who typically do not file a tax return will automatically get the $1,200 payment.

The announcement is a reversal from earlier in the week when the Internal Revenue Service said everyone would need to file some sort of tax return in order to qualify for the payments. Democrats and some Republicans criticized the IRS for requiring so many extra hurdles for this vulnerable population to get aid when the government already has their information on file.

The reversal came as the Trump administration tries to rapidly get stimulus payments out to Americans in the face of the quickest economic decline in modern history. Continue reading.

Trump claims credit for what is still mostly Obama’s economy

The following article by Christopher Rugaber was posted on the Associated Press website January 17, 2018:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump relentlessly congratulates himself for the healthy state of the U.S. economy, with its steady growth, low unemployment, busier factories and confident consumers.

But in the year since Trump’s inauguration, most analysts tend to agree on this: The economy remains essentially the same sturdy one he inherited from Barack Obama.

Growth has picked up, but it’s not yet clear if it can sustain a faster expansion. Hiring and wage growth actually slowed slightly from Obama’s last year in office. Consumers and businesses are much more optimistic, but their spending has yet to move meaningfully higher. Continue reading “Trump claims credit for what is still mostly Obama’s economy”

New Census Data Show Household Incomes Are Rising Again, But Share Going to Middle Class Is at Record Low

The following article by Alex Rowell and David Madland was posted on the Center for American Progress website September 12, 2017:

A couple walks past abandoned buildings in a poor, urban neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 11, 2009. Credit: AP/Al Behrman

The latest Census Bureau data show that for the second straight year, the typical U.S. household saw its income rise in inflation-adjusted terms in 2016, the last year of the Obama administration, and incomes have now recovered to approximately pre-Great Recession levels. The median U.S. household income was $59,039 in 2016, a 3.2 percent increase from real 2015 levels.

While the data contain some good news, the overall story is still quite bleak.

Median household income is now at roughly the same level it was in the late 1990s—meaning that household income has been effectively stagnant for two decades. Furthermore, 2016’s higher level of income when compared to years prior to 2013 could be partially driven by the survey’s redesign in 2013, which resulted in finding higher incomes than the previous survey design. It also represents a very small share of economic growth over this period. Continue reading “New Census Data Show Household Incomes Are Rising Again, But Share Going to Middle Class Is at Record Low”

Middle class incomes had their fastest growth on record last year

Democrats bad for the economy?  They’ll just tax and spend and that will hurt average people?  Not so much by the look of it:

The following article by Jim Tankersley was posted on the Washington Post website September 13, 2016:

16-09-13-wapo-middle-class-chart

The incomes of typical Americans rose in 2015 by 5.2  percent, the first significant boost to middle-class pay since the end of the Great Recession and the fastest increase ever recorded by the federal government, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday morning.

In addition, the poverty rate fell by 1.2 percentage points, the steepest decline since 1968. There were 43.1 million Americans in poverty on the year, 3.5 million fewer than in 2014.

The share of Americans who lack health insurance continued a years-long decline, falling 1.3 percentage points, to 9.1 percent.

The numbers, from the government’s annual report on income, poverty and health insurance, suggest the recovery from recession is finally beginning to lift the fortunes of large swaths of American workers and families. Continue reading “Middle class incomes had their fastest growth on record last year”

Longest period of private-sector growth in U.S. history

In the six months before President Obama took office the stock market lost half of its value, and through the Great Recession millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes and savings. Today’s jobs report showed that under President Obama, our unemployment is the lowest it’s been since 2007 and we have now had 75 straight months of private-sector job growth – the longest stretch on record. Clearly we still have more work ahead to expand opportunity for all Americans and ensure wages grow to meet the needs of hard-working families, but this is progress that the American people can be proud of.