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Today's #JOLTS data show that by the end of Oct—3 months after Senate Republicans let the extra $600 in weekly UI benefits expire—there were 4.2 million more unemployed workers than job openings. The cruelty is mindblowing. People can’t get jobs that don’t exist. 1/
#JOLTS data also show hiring has slowed dramatically since May/June and is now *lower* than it was before the recession hit. This is a disaster given that we have a gaping hole in the labor market that requires a huge amount of hiring to fill. 2/ https://www.epi.org/blog/the-economy-president-elect-biden-is-inheriting-more-than-26-million-workers-15-5-of-the-workforce-are-being-directly-hurt-by-the-coronavirus-downturn/
A related hugely concerning thing in the #JOLTS data is that job openings are substantially below where they were before the virus hit (6.7 million at the end of October, compared to a 7.1 million monthly average in the year prior to the recession). 3/
The low level of job openings when we have such a huge hole in the labor market is a very bad sign for the pace of the recovery. And today’s #JOLTS data release only goes through October—it doesn’t even capture the Nov. slowdown in job growth. The economy needs stimulus. 4/
Crucial policies to boost the economy are fiscal aid to state and local governments and reinstating/extending the unemployment insurance provisions of the CARES Act. The pandemic UI provisions alone could create or save 5.1 million jobs. 5/ https://www.epi.org/blog/reinstating-and-extending-the-pandemic-unemployment-insurance-programs-through-2021-could-create-or-save-5-1-million-jobs/
W/o congressional action, all remaining pandemic UI programs will expire on Dec 26th. Millions of workers are depending on these programs and if they expire, millions of these workers & their families will be financially devastated. 6/
The House passed a $3 trillion relief package in May, then a $2.2 trillion relief package in November, and Pelosi and Schumer have now backed a $900 billion bipartisan bill as a basis for negotiations. Senate Republicans need to act. 7/
