Predictions from Trump and others that a Biden presidency would mean economic ruin for America have again been proven wrong. Across the week ending on July 31, unemployment claims again fell, marking another sign of economic recovery from the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. As summarized by CBS, approximately “385,000 people filed for first-time unemployment benefits in the week [ending] July 31,” and this number, adjusted for seasonal variations, sits 14,000 below the number of first-time claims recorded in the previous week. (Claims for federal assistance for freelancers and gig workers are tabulated separately.) As recently as January of this year, weekly unemployment claims were at over 900,000, and prior to that point, unemployment claims remained above 1 million per week for weeks on end in 2020.
The ambitious COVID-19 economic recovery package signed into law by President Biden earlier this year has no doubt helped with the economic gains that have been recorded. In the second quarter of this year, the country’s GDP grew at an annualized rate of 6.5 percent, which is significantly higher than ordinary pre-pandemic rates and indicates how the economy continues to bound ahead. Biden’s economic recovery plan included a raft of ambitious provisions, from an expanded child tax credit to direct payments to many individuals, alongside both financial support for efforts to get Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 and significant amounts of money for state and local governments.
Rubeela Farooqi, who works as chief U.S. economist with High Frequency Economics, indicated in a new research note reported on by CBS that her team “expect[s] the labor market to improve and job growth to pick up although new variants of the virus as well as near term constraints on labor supply are downside risks.” The infrastructure package that Biden is hoping to soon get enacted also functions as a sort of economic support plan. The framework includes money for efforts like expanding broadband internet service for rural communities, and these provisions, if enacted, would both create significant numbers of accessible jobs around the country and, more broadly, support the economic development of the United States. Up first is a bipartisan deal that the Senate has deliberated over and hopes to pass soon. The deal already has the support of a number of Senate Republicans.
