The Economy is Gaining Steam with a Better-Than-Expected Job's Report

• Author: Jacob Greene
• Posted: 2024-06-04

The Senate agrees to the distribution of the unemployment benefits. President Biden wanted the 10 million unemployed to receive $400 a month extra in benefits that would last until the end of September. Four million Americans are still long-term unemployed since the onset of the pandemic.

The Senate has reduced the expansion of aid in the proposed bill. They want unemployed Americans to receive $300 in benefits until September 6, which at that time, the fiscal year concludes, and Congress must agree on a new budget proposal. The House Democrats had included in their bill to have expanded unemployment benefits last until the end of August while keeping the boost at $400.

Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democratic Senator from West Virginia, held his vote to negotiate a more modest unemployment package so that workers would be encouraged to re-enter the workforce more quickly.

Also, households with less than $150,000 in income would be eligible to have the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits waived as non-taxable.
 

Biden Stimulus Plans

Biden has two stimulus plans: the current $1.9 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus plan and the new economic recovery plan. The president has been concerned about the crumbling infrastructure. Engineers give the nation's highways and transportation structures a D plus.

Local municipalities must make improvements so that productivity can remain competitive in a global economy. In the works could be high-speed trains and underground transportation. Expect strong contention in Congress to last several months.

According to Biden, there will be enough vaccines in the nation to inoculate every adult person living in the U.S. by the end of May. This premise alone should put plenty of people's minds at ease so they can go out and spend funds that have been sitting idle in savings accounts for months.

Because no one could spend freely during the pandemic, the population has managed to save $1.6 trillion in bank accounts. When you consider this amount, the $1.6 trillion equals the entire GDP of South Korea.

Suppose the American public spends at least $1 trillion in the local and national economy within the next few months. In this case, the spending will accelerate the GDP close to 6% in growth and put millions of people back to work.

Economists are already raving about how the $600 stimulus checks have benefited job growth for February. Employers added over 379,000 jobs in February. Spring is the perfect time to reopen the service economy, as more people feel comfortable leaving their homes as the nation edges closer to herd immunity.

For February, the harsh winter weather is over, with multiple snowstorms, power outages, and record cold temperatures that the southern states have not experienced in 30 years. People are itching to get out and spend money with the overwhelming pent-up demand.

Solo activities only added modestly to economic growth. Individuals spend more money when they meet with friends and family, enjoying activities together as a group like shopping, visiting restaurants, and attending sporting events.
 

The Wealth Tax

Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to pay for the multiple relief bills with a wealth tax. This would only apply to 400,000 American families who have assets over $50 million. Countable assets would include racehorses, offshore bank accounts, stocks and bonds, real estate, and money market funds.

The wealth tax would generate $3 trillion in revenue for the next decade. The gains would offset the Trump-era tax cuts for the wealthy businessmen and large corporations scheduled to add trillions to the national deficit.
 

The Recovery

The dentist and the physician offices have recovered more quickly. Since the unemployment rate was at its highest at 15% in April, health services have recovered 36,000 jobs in the last month alone. Altogether, the health sector with pharmacies and vaccination centers have added close to a million jobs since the economic recovery.

Ships are stacked at the nation's ports, waiting to dock for workers to unload goods ready to ship to retail stores. Demand was strong for the holidays, with many people purchasing manufactured goods for family and friends.

Matt Godden, the Chief Executive for Centerline Logistics, needs to hire 70 workers to handle equipment as they seek to order more fuel barges for the latter part of the year.

As schools reopen, more women are entering the workforce. The unemployment rate for women now stands at 6.2% and 6.3% for men. Only those who have been seeking a job within the last four weeks are considered unemployed.

The unemployment rate for those with bachelor's degrees is less than 4%. The hospitality sector will take a little longer to recover, with Nevada and Hawaii having the nation's highest unemployment rate at over 11%. Biden expects America to get back to full employment by this time next year.