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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 4, 2021
Contact:
Maddy McDaniel, Communications Director
[email protected] or 914-471-7716
STATEMENT: 779,000 PEOPLE FILED FOR UNEMPLOYMENT LAST WEEK, UNDERSCORING NEED FOR ROBUST COVID RELIEF
Unemployment Claims Have Been Higher Than Their Peak During the Great Recession for 46 Straight Weeks
Majority of Americans Want a Large Covid Relief Package As Soon As Possible, Even Without A Bipartisan Vote In Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Another 779,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Invest In America’s spokesperson Maddy McDaniel issued the following statement:
“Congress now has 779,000 more reasons to take big, bold action on covid relief. Jobless claims never topped 700,000 during the Great Recession — but we’ve hit that mark every week now for 46 straight weeks.
“While Congressional Republicans try to nickel and dime our recovery, Americans across the country are hurting and in desperate need of a big, bold, stimulus package. President Biden’s covid relief plan delivers with direct checks and unemployment insurance, help for small businesses and aid to keep essential workers on the job. Economists agree that a major action like the American Rescue Plan is the right thing to do for our economy and the only way to help people who are suffering through the worst economy since the Great Depression.”
President Biden’s COVID relief plan would boost GDP by 4 percent by the end of 2021, according to a Brookings analysis. The robust plan provides for another round of direct stimulus checks, an expansion of unemployment insurance, and much-needed relief to state and local governments, renters and homeowners, and small businesses, among other key provisions.
Expert research shows that these measures are needed to rescue and grow the American economy.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell credited the stimulus checks and additional unemployment insurance passed in 2020 with a rebound in household spending.
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