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COVID-19 watch Tracking Hardship - August 6, 2020 |
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How much more will people lose before Trump and McConnell provide help? The House enacted its HEROES bill on May 15. The Senate has not yet acted; its majority caucus is divided. Since the House acted, the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has soared from 1.4 million to 4.8 million. We have gained back some of the jobs lost, but are still at least 13 million below the February peak, and now, as weekly unemployment claims have well exceeded 1 million for 20 weeks, job growth sharply slowed in July. About 30 million jobless people are now going without the $600/week extra unemployment compensation, and that is making it much harder for them to pay rent or buy food. In a nation where 600+ billionaires saw their aggregate incomes rise $42 billion per week between March 18-July 16, the Senate majority and White House have stopped more than $15 billion a week in the $600 unemployment payments; it will take at least weeks for state offices to start them up again. In the meantime, shocking numbers of people cannot pay their rent or get enough to eat. McConnell’s majority has not agreed to an increase in SNAP or emergency rental assistance, but they have proposed doubling the tax break for business meals. States are making cuts, costing more jobs and services. 158,000 have died. Our nation needs action now.
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24,670 |
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How many people of color who died of COVID-19 would be alive today if their death rates were the same as the death rate for whites. 18,000 Blacks; 6,000 Latinx; 600 Indigenous; 70 Pacific Islanders (through 8/4). Tweet this. |
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-$15.2 billion |
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How much money jobless people are losing each week since the $600/week Pandemic Unemployment Compensation was allowed to expire. Tweet this. |
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0 |
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How many jobless people would be helped by the payroll tax cut that President Trump has now talked about doing by executive order, because you don’t pay it when you’re out of work. Tweet this. |
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More than half |
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51 percent of people lived in households where someone lost income from work (week ending July 21). From April 23 through July 21, the number of people in such households grew by 10 million, to 126.5 million. |
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2.23 million fewer |
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In June, 2.4 million private sector jobs were added; in July, only 167,000, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics. The sharp slowing was said to result from the surge in COVID cases followed by more business restrictions/fewer customers. Tweet this. |
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For the full report, click here. Sign the petition: The Senate must join the House in enacting COVID recovery legislation similar to the House’s HEROES act. Share this on Facebook and Twitter.
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