Washington Post economics reporter Jeffrey Stein discussed the new jobless claims of 870,000 announced by the Department of Labor on Thursday that was a slight increase of 4,000 from the previous week.
“It’s not only plateauing, there’s actually been an increase in unemployment in each of the last three weeks consecutively,” Stein said, noting newly released data that shows tens of thousands of small businesses have closed their doors.
“We’re seeing the permanent scarring of huge sectors of the American economy at a time when federal support is either evaporating or very unlikely to arise.”
Stein said that as the Senate moved toward filling a Supreme Court vacancy left by late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it’s increasingly unlikely lawmakers will reach a deal on another coronavirus stimulus package.
“It’s very hard to imagine that especially as Republicans try to unify their caucus for this very difficult Supreme Court fight, [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell would be willing to risk cutting his membership in two over something like aid for state and local governments,” Stein said.
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