Brussels Reporter
  • Home
  • Brussels
  • Europe
    • Europe

      Mount Etna’s show, a Victorian house relocated in…

      February 26, 2021February 26, 2021

      Europe

      Malta police chief says all Daphne Caruana Galizia…

      February 25, 2021February 26, 2021

      Europe

      Ireland’s hotel quarantine plan dubbed ‘a holy mess’

      February 25, 2021

      Europe

      How Hungary’s great lakes threaten to put Budapest…

      February 25, 2021February 25, 2021

      Europe

      Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sparks fears of…

      February 25, 2021February 25, 2021

  • Globe
  • Lifestyle
  • Business

Brussels Reporter

  • Home
  • Brussels
  • Europe
    • Europe

      Mount Etna’s show, a Victorian house relocated in…

      February 26, 2021February 26, 2021

      Europe

      Malta police chief says all Daphne Caruana Galizia…

      February 25, 2021February 26, 2021

      Europe

      Ireland’s hotel quarantine plan dubbed ‘a holy mess’

      February 25, 2021

      Europe

      How Hungary’s great lakes threaten to put Budapest…

      February 25, 2021February 25, 2021

      Europe

      Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sparks fears of…

      February 25, 2021February 25, 2021

  • Globe
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
Home Globe US jobs growth slows in July as pandemic takes toll
Globe

US jobs growth slows in July as pandemic takes toll

by editor August 7, 2020
August 7, 2020

Image copyright
Getty Images

Hiring in the US slowed sharply in July as the country struggled to control the coronavirus pandemic.

Employers added 1.8 million jobs last month, down from a record 4.8 million in June.

The unemployment rate fell to 10.2%, continuing to improve from the high of 14.7% seen in April.

The figures reignited calls for Washington to approve further economic stimulus, though the slowdown was not as bad as many economists had feared.

The US Labor Department report, “confirms that the resurgence in new virus cases caused the economic recovery to slow, but also underlines that it has not yet gone into reverse,” said Andrew Hunter, senior US economist at Capital Economics.

The job gains in July came from many of the sectors hit hardest by shutdowns, including restaurants, bars and retail outlets.

Economists have said this kind of hiring, happening as states around the country allow establishments to reopen, represents the “easy” part of a long recovery ahead.

Worse than financial crisis

Since February, the US has lost more than 12 million jobs and seen unemployment spike from a roughly 50-year-low of 3.5%.

In the three months to the end of June, the country’s economy was hit by its sharpest quarterly contraction in more than 70 years of record-keeping, shrinking at an annual rate of 33% or nearly 10% year-on-year.

  • US economy suffers sharpest contraction in decades
  • The millions of Americans ‘hanging by a thread’

The 10.2% unemployment rate the US Labor Department reported for July is higher than the worst of the 2007-2009 financial crisis, when the jobless rate peaked at 10%.

This week, nearly 1.2 million people filed new claims for unemployment. More than 31 million people – roughly 1 in 5 American workers – continue to collect the benefits.

Heidi Shierholz, economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said: “We added 1.8 million jobs in July, but our jobs level remains in absolute crisis”.

Economists have said the loss of momentum last month is a sign of the peril facing the economy, as health concerns put a dampener on consumer spending and temporary measures passed in March, including bans on evictions and a $600 emergency boost to unemployment benefits, expire.

“In the absence of additional fiscal aid, the broad economy risks losing momentum as it shifts into the second phase of its rehabilitation,” said Gregory Daco, economist at Oxford Economics. “Additionally, more temporary layoffs are becoming permanent, increasing the scarring effects of the coronavirus recession that could prolong the recovery substantially.”

While Washington lawmakers have been trying to negotiate further stimulus, many Republicans oppose a deal of the size Democrats say is necessary.

“The most responsible thing we can do is to take proactive measures to allow people to return to work safely, instead of continuing to lock down the economy,” Republican Congressman Kevin Brady said after the report.

Republicans want a deal to include legal protections for employers against virus-related health claims from workers.

They are also pushing to reduce the $600 emergency supplement to unemployment benefits, which expired last month, and have proposed far less aid to local governments than Democrats want.

Their stance has presented a challenge for US President Donald Trump, who had hoped to use a strong economy as his calling card to voters in his campaign for re-election in November. He has said he may act unilaterally to extend some aid.

Source link

previous post
Charles Michel to visit Beirut
next post
Minsk’s Hi-Tech Park: a symbol of growing inequality in Lukashenko’s Belarus

Related Posts

Julian Assange loses extradition bail bid

January 6, 2021

The ten key issues for the European elections...

May 20, 2019

End Sars protests: ‘They shot at us –...

October 22, 2020

Murder of Paweł Adamowicz: The roots of the...

January 21, 2019

Final flight for British Airways’ last two Heathrow-based...

October 8, 2020

There is no freedom without solidarity – VoxEurop...

August 6, 2019

Bubba Wallace: Noose found in garage stall of...

June 22, 2020

Jamal Khashoggi murder: Trial of 20 Saudis in...

November 24, 2020

GE: Industrial giant will stop building coal-fired power...

September 21, 2020

Release of James Bond film No Time To...

October 2, 2020
Promotion Image

Recent Posts

  • Mount Etna’s show, a Victorian house relocated in San Francisco, new photos from Mars | In pictures
  • North Korea: Russian diplomats leave by hand-pushed trolley
  • Amazon rainforest plots sold via Facebook Marketplace ads
  • Malta police chief says all Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspects caught
  • Ireland’s hotel quarantine plan dubbed ‘a holy mess’
Promotion Image

GO!

Lifestyle

  • Scientists are using satellites to count elephants from space for the first time

  • France: Hospital workers demand more resources to fight COVID-19

  • Alexei Navalny: Millions watch jailed critic's 'Putin palace' film

  • Covid vaccine: WHO warns of ‘catastrophic moral failure’

  • Belgium looks good in white

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Beware of scammING. Dirty money of famous bank

    October 6, 2020
  • 2

    Biden is back (virtually) in Munich, and brings the US along

    February 19, 2021
  • 3

    Brittany Higgins: Parliament rape accuser makes complaint

    February 20, 2021

Editor’s Choices

  • European Parliament will set up vaccination centers for MEPs, staff and locals

    January 21, 2021
  • Why ‘equal access’ to coronavirus vaccines is failing poor countries

    January 20, 2021
  • Merkel era may only just be beginning

    January 16, 2021

Opinions

  • Ireland’s hotel quarantine plan dubbed ‘a holy mess’

    February 25, 2021
  • Face masks given out by Belgian government may contain toxic particles

    February 25, 2021
  • Fake websites found peddling pro-Huawei content

    February 24, 2021

@2018-2021 - Brussels Reporter (www.brusselsreporter.com). All Right Reserved.