President-Elect Biden to Announce Desperately-Needed Relief Package as Health and Economic Situation in the United States Continues to Deteriorate

Roughly a Million New Unemployment Claims Last Week

4 Million Businesses, 10 Million Jobs Lost Since Pandemic Began

Experts Promise That Economic Plight Will Continue Until COVID Outbreak Is Curbed

4,000 Deaths, 250,000 New Infections Daily

President-elect Biden will this evening reveal the details of a desperately-needed relief package  to address the worsening coronavirus pandemic and curb its disastrous economic effects. The plan will respond to the United States’ vaccine distribution failures, provide financial, housing, and nutritional support to America’s struggling families, and ramp up aid to states and localities that have been struggling to combat the pandemic. 

The support can’t come soon enough. As the health situation in the United States rapidly deteriorates — with roughly 250,000 new cases and 4,000 deaths each day — the economic recovery is stumbling. New unemployment claims are on the rise, the United States is once again shedding jobs, businesses are closing, and economists are warning that it could take months to counteract the worst economic effects of the pandemic.

The Coronavirus Pandemic Still Rages in the United States, Claiming Thousands of Lives Dailly

• The United States Is Now Facing 4,000 Coronavirus Deaths A Day. “Hospitals around the country remain filled beyond capacity, threatening the quality of care provided both to coronavirus patients and people suffering other medical emergencies…. We’re beginning to see more than 4,000 coronavirus deaths a day, and heart attacks and car accidents are still happening, whether or not the local hospital has any room left.” [Axios, 1/14/21]
  
• The United States Is Averaging Nearly 250,000 New Infections Daily As Pandemic Is “Raging.” “The U.S. is now averaging nearly 250,000 new coronavirus cases per day — a crisis of staggering proportions, even though many Americans have tuned it out…. It’s not even sufficient to say the pandemic is ‘still going on,’ as if it’s a fire that hasn’t finished burning out. The pandemic is raging. Its deadliest and most dangerous days are happening right now. And it keeps getting worse.” [Axios, 1/14/21]
• Hospital Capacity Is Strained In Several Parts Of The Country. “Hospital capacity is dangerously strained in several parts of the country. Coronavirus patients now occupy 40% of all the hospital beds in Arizona, 33% in California and Nevada, and 26% of all the beds in Georgia and Texas.”  [Axios, 1/14/21]
• Nearly 40,000 Americans Have Died In The First Two Weeks Of 2021, And The CDC Forecasts That More Than 90,000 Could Die In The Next Three Weeks. “More than 38,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 in the first two weeks of the new year. Another 92,000 are projected to die from the virus over roughly the next three weeks, according to an ensemble forecast published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers are scary and reflect what public health experts have repeatedly warned: While the end is in sight — with the help of ongoing Covid-19 vaccinations — the nation is still facing challenging times ahead.” [CNN, 1/14/21]
  
• More Than 130,000 People In The United States Are Currently Hospitalized With The Virus, As Nearly 24,000 Are Being Treated In ICUs. “Hospitalizations due to the disease topped 130,000 Wednesday for the second consecutive day, while 23,877 patients required treatment in intensive-care units, according to the Covid Tracking Project.” [Wall Street Journal, 1/14/21]
• The United States Reported A Record Of More Than 4,300 Deaths On January 12, And The Pace Of Deaths Is Increasing Rapidly. “Coronavirus deaths climbed to another record high on Tuesday in the United States, with a stunning 4,327 people dying in a single day, according to Johns Hopkins University. Deaths from COVID-19 are increasing at an alarming rate in the U.S. The seven-day average for daily deaths rose from about 2,600 per day to about 3,300 per day in the past week, a New York Times tracker shows.” [The Hill, 1/13/21]
• Experts Are Warning That The New, More Contagious Variant Of The Virus That Originated In The UK Could Drive Another Deadly Surge In The United States. “Scientists are sending the U.S. a warning: What’s happening right now in the United Kingdom with the new coronavirus variant could likely happen in the U.S., and the country has a short window to prepare… The new variant, called B.1.1.7, appears to be significantly more contagious than previous versions of the virus. It has been spreading rapidly in the U.K. and causing a huge surge in cases, hospitalizations and death… With cases already surging here in the U.S., having this new variant dominant outbreak could be very problematic, researchers say. It could fuel another surge on top of the already staggering surge the country is struggling to stop.” [NPR, 1/13/21]
  

As the Virus Continues Its Unrelenting Spread, the US Faces a Worsening Economic Situation

• Ten Months Into The Pandemic, 19 Million Americans Are Still Collecting Some Form Of Unemployment Benefit And The Economy Still Has 10 Million Jobs To Recover. “Ten months into the pandemic, the U.S. economy still has around 10 million jobs to recover, the unemployment rate remains at 6.7 percent and almost 19 million Americans are still claiming some form of unemployment benefit.” [NBC News, 1/14/21]
• More Than 1.4 Million Americans Filed Initial Unemployment Claims Last Week, Including Those Who Filed For Regular And Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. “More than 1.4 million Americans filed for jobless claims last week — a figure that includes first-time filings for regular state unemployment and another program for non-traditional workers. It’s another surge in the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits, an additional sign the labor market is facing more strain as the coronavirus continues to ravage the country.” [Axios, 1/14/21]
• There Were More Than 1.15 Million Claims For Regular State Unemployment Assistance On A Non-Seasonally Adjusted Basis. “There were over 1.15 million new applications for the regular state unemployment, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. It’s the first time this figure has spiked over 1 million since July.” [Axios, 1/14/21]
• There Were Over 284,000 Applications For Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. “There were more than 284,000 applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a program created in March that allows typically ineligible workers to receive unemployment benefits (think gig workers or the self-employed).” [Axios, 1/14/21]
• Seasonally Adjusted Claims Rose To 965,000, Far Higher Than Economists’ Forecasts Of 800,000 New Claims. “The latest weekly [seasonally-adjusted] initial jobless claims soared to 965,000 last week, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Labor, as the economy struggles to contain the fallout from rising coronavirus infection rates across the country. Last week’s figure is far higher than economists’ forecasts of 800,000 claims, and is the largest total since Aug. 22, when the economy started a brief recovery over the summer. Initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 2 came in at 784,000.” [NBC News, 1/14/21]
• Roughly 70 Million Americans, Or 40 Percent Of The US Labor Force, Has Filed For Unemployment Benefits During The Pandemic. “The number [of weekly initial unemployment claims] is nearly four times the pre-crisis level but is well below the peak of almost 7 million that was reached when stay-at-home orders were first issued in March. Almost 70 million Americans, or about 40% of the labor force, have filed for unemployment benefits during the pandemic.” [Fox News, 1/14/21]
• The United States Lost 140,000 Jobs In December As COVID-19 Cases Rise. “The rapid rise in Covid-19 cases and fresh business restrictions in some places are weighing on the labor market. Employers cut 140,000 jobs in December, marking the first decline since the pandemic hit the country last spring. Leisure and hospitality workers bore the brunt of the decline, as a nationwide surge in coronavirus infections forced many restaurants and bars to close or scale back operations.” [Wall Street Journal, 1/14/21]
• The United States Has Lost 4 Million Businesses Since The Pandemic Began. “The nation has lost 4 million businesses during the crisis, most of them small restaurants and shops, according to Oxxford Information Technology, which monitors millions of businesses and nonprofit organizations. There has been a surprising increase in new businesses, with 1.5 million to 2 million formed, but most of those are Internet businesses that have been started by people who have been laid off, said Raymond Greenhill, president of Oxxford Information Technology. He said it’s unlikely that many of these companies will survive, let alone hire workers.” [Washington Post, 1/14/21]
• 1.3 Million Jobs In State And Local Governments Have Been Cut Since March. “State and local governments, many anticipating the worst, have already taken steps to slim their budgets, namely by instituting layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes of government workers. About 1.3m jobs in state and local governments have been cut since March, and it is unclear when and if those jobs will be coming back. State and local government employment has not been this low since 2001.” [The Guardian, 1/13/21]
• Unemployment Expert Andrew Stettner: “The U.S. Just Won’t Be Able To Ramp Up The Rehiring” Of Millions Of Unemployed Workers Until We “Greatly Advance The Fight Against COVID.” The surge in unemployment claims signals the rising headwinds facing businesses as COVID-19 infections climb and the death toll reaches new records, with 4,300 deaths on Tuesday. The latest jobless claims are among the ‘flashing red warning signs’ that the recovery is being battered by the worsening pandemic, said Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at the Century Foundation and an expert on unemployment… ‘The U.S. just won’t be able to ramp up the rehiring of the 17.47 million workers now relying on benefits until we greatly advance the fight against COVID,’ Stettner said in an emailed statement.” [CBS, 1/14/21]
• AnnElizabeth Konkel, Economist At Indeed Hiring Lab: “It May Take Months To See The Ranks Of The Long-Term Unemployed Drastically Shrink.” “’Collectively, it may take many months to see the ranks of the long-term unemployed drastically shrink. As the pandemic drags on, so does the deep economic pain felt by millions,’ [Indeed Hiring Lab’s AnnElizabeth] Konkel said.”  [NBC News, 1/14/21]

The Economic Catastrophe Is Taking a Particular Toll on Women of Color

• Women Accounted For All Of The 140,000 Jobs Lost By The US Economy In December. “According to new data released Friday [January 8], employers cut 140,000 jobs in December, signaling that the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is backtracking. Digging deeper into the data also reveals a shocking gender gap: Women accounted for all the job losses, losing 156,000 jobs, while men gained 16,000.” [CNN,1/12/21]
  
• Despite That Men And Women Began 2020 On Equal Footing, Women Are Down 5.4 Million Jobs While Men Are Down 4.4 Million. “Overall, women are still down 5.4 million jobs from February, before the pandemic began, as compared to 4.4 million job losses for men. They started 2020 on roughly equal footing, with women holding 50.03% of jobs, but ended it holding 860,000 fewer jobs than their male peers. That gap is in large part due to steep job losses in three sectors: education – which remains a female-dominated industry – hospitality and retail, particularly clothing and accessories stores. All of these industries have been hammered by the pandemic.” [CNN,1/12/21]
  
• Job Losses Among Women Were Driven By Black Women And Latinas, Whose Unemployment Rates Are 8.4 Percent And 9.1 Percent, Respectively. “Inequality extends to minority women. White women also gained jobs in December, while Latinas and Black women suffered large job losses. The Department of Labor did not provide specific statistics for other races. ‘It’s very clear that women in communities of color, which are in these very vulnerable jobs at higher rates, they are the ones that are really getting hit hard,’ Carrazana said. According to the Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for white women is now 5.7%. It is 8.4% for Black women and 9.1% for Latinas.” [KARE 11, 1/12/21]
• 154,000 Black Women Left The Workforce In December Alone. “In December, 154,000 Black women left the labor force entirely. That’s the largest drop in their employment since the beginning of the pandemic, the National Women’s Law Center pointed out in a data brief released Friday. Meanwhile, 200,000 white women actually returned to the workforce.” [Huffington Post, 1/12/21]