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Dec employment situation: jobs recovery stalled before end-of-year stimulus and relief measures were enacted. Payroll jobs down 140k (private down 95k) in Dec after 5 months of shrinking job gains; unemployment rate still 6.7% did not fall for first time since April. 1/10
Dec jobs deficit (-9.8 million jobs, 6.5% below start of recession) larger than in worst month of the Great Recession (6.3% below). State and local employment down 1.4 million jobs since Feb, many in education. 2/10
Long-term unemployment (27 weeks or more) up from 1.1m in Feb to 4.0m in Dec. Max # of wks of regular state unemployment insurance is 26 or fewer. 2/3rds of UI recipients are in emergency federal programs (PEUC, PUA) extended only into March. 3/10
Historical racial and ethnic disparities in employment persist https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/robust-unemployment-insurance-other-relief-needed-to-mitigate-racial-and-ethnic
ppt change since Feb in UR
All 3.2
Black3.9
Hisp.4.9
White3.0
ppt change since Feb in share of 25-54 yr olds w/ job
Black-4.8
Hisp.-6.1
White-3.8
4/10
ppt change since Feb in UR
All 3.2
Black3.9
Hisp.4.9
White3.0
ppt change since Feb in share of 25-54 yr olds w/ job
Black-4.8
Hisp.-6.1
White-3.8
4/10
End-of-year stimulus/relief package was important for addressing hardship* and keeping the recovery going, but it is short-lived and incomplete; e.g. missing critical state fiscal relief. * https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/tracking-the-covid-19-recessions-effects-on-food-housing-and 5/10
Further action will be needed to address ongoing hardship and ensure that a strong, sustainable, and equitable recovery takes root. 6/10
The slowing of the economy amidst substantial hardship highlights one of the most important lessons from the Great Recession a decade ago: policymakers must not end stimulus and relief measures prematurely. 7/10
Failure to ensure a robust recovery can have negative long-term effects, with high human and economic costs; children, youth, and people of color are particularly at risk if the economy does not bounce back quickly from a recession. 8/10
While the Great Recession measures were substantial and prevented an even more severe recession, they ended too soon and were insufficient to promote a recovery that was both rapid and robust. https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/fiscal-stimulus-needed-to-fight-recessions. 9/10
Similarly, the measures taken so far to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus have been substantial and kept things from being even worse, but more will be needed to give the recovery added momentum and relieve continuing hardship. 10/10
