Nearly one-third of US adults expect to lose employment income: Census Bureau

Roughly a third of U.S. adults expect someone in their household to lose their job or see their pay or hours reduced, according to survey results released Wednesday by the Census Bureau.

Almost 31 percent of respondents to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey conducted Nov. 11 through Nov. 23. said they expected someone in their household to suffer a loss of employment income. 

Another 33.2 percent said they expected to face foreclosure or eviction within the next two months, 34.5 percent said they have struggled to pay basic expenses, and roughly 12 percent said there was sometimes or often not enough food to eat in their homes during the week leading into the survey.

The latest data from the Census Bureau shows the deep economic turmoil suffered by millions of Americans amid the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have shattered records across the U.S. for months, and the White House has warned that the pandemic could soon overrun the American medical system.

The resurgence of COVID-19 has also hindered the country’s slowing recovery from the economic crisis it caused in March. States and cities across the U.S. have reimposed business closures and restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19, and the steep climb in cases has choked off consumer demand.

Lawmakers in both parties this week restarted negotiations over another coronavirus response and economic relief package after months of partisan bickering and limited progress. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) endorsed Wednesday a $908 billion aid plan introduced by a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers as a starting point for another deal. Both had previously insisted that a House-passed $3 trillion measure should be the baseline for an agreement.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), however, indicated Tuesday that he was unwilling to take up that measure and preferred the $500 billion plan he introduced later that day.

“We just don’t have time to waste time,” he told reporters Tuesday.