President Biden on Friday made the case for Congress to quickly pass his nearly $2 trillion coronavirus relief package even if it means abandoning Republican support, warning of an economy that’s still in the grips of the pandemic.
“It is very clear our economy is still in trouble,” Biden said during remarks at the White House. “I know some in Congress think we’ve already done enough to deal with the crisis in the country. Others think that things are getting better and we can afford to sit back and either do little or do nothing at all. That’s not what I see. I see enormous pain in this country. A lot of folks out of work. A lot of folks going hungry.”
Biden’s comments came as the Labor Department reported that employment rose by just 49,000 last month, a lackluster start to the new year as COVID-19 and restrictions implemented to curb its spread continued to weigh on businesses. The unemployment rate edged down to 6.3%.
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In total, the U.S. has recovered roughly half of the 22 million jobs lost during the first two months of the pandemic. There are still about 9.9 million more Americans out of work than there were in February before the crisis began, the report shows.
The broader economic recovery has also sputtered in recent months: Unemployment claims, a proxy for layoffs, have remained at about four-times their pre-crisis level. Consumer spending fell as Americans stayed home — and those who ventured out had limited options. GDP, the broadest measure of goods and services, grew just 1% in the final three months of the year, compared with an increase of 7.48% between the second and third quarters.
Democrats are moving to fast-track Biden’s pandemic relief plan, with the Senate approving a budget resolution early Friday morning that will allow them to pass the measure without any Republican buy-ins using a procedural tool known as “reconciliation.”
House committee…
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