This week in Washington lawmakers continue negotiations around a coronavirus aid package, and the July jobs report shines a light on the impact of the coronavirus on the economy.
Negotiations ramped up this week between congressional leaders and the White House. After a week of discussions a deal couldn't be reached and both chambers have left Washington for the weekend. The slow negotiations come at a troubling time with the unemployment insurance boost and the eviction moratorium ending at the end of July. Both sides still appear very far apart in the negotiations and a path for a deal is unclear at the moment.
Over the last four months, Catholic Charities agencies distributed nearly $400 million in emergency aid to vulnerable people around the country. But this alone will not meet the ongoing needs due to the pandemic. Catholic Charities USA is calling on Congress to come together and find solutions to help the millions of struggling families. You can help by telling Congress you stand with Catholic Charities and urge them to continue providing help to the millions of people still struggling.
The expiration of supplemental unemployment benefits of $600 a week per person is expected to have a large impact on next month's job report if Congress cannot resolve their disagreements. Families were using the benefit to keep their households financially stable while their places of employment were closed. Many states are slowly reopening their economies but increases in job gains are being largely offset by unemployment claims.
In July, U.S. employers added 1.8 million jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 10.2%. The report is well below June's 4.8 million jobs added, and is only a small portion of the 22 million jobs lost in March and April. While July saw an increase of jobs added, unemployment claims remain at over 1 million new claims per week. This week saw 1.2 million new unemployment claims, marking the lowest weekly total since March. The million-plus claims have been historically high for the past 20 weeks.
The jobs report also highlighted that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on Americans of color. The African American unemployment rate decreased to 14.6% in July from 15.4% in June, while the white jobless rate fell to 9.2% in July. The 5.4% gap marks the largest gap in employment since the beginning of the pandemic.
Faith and the Common Good
This week, in addition to the 160,000 deaths in the U.S. due to COVID-19, it was also reported that this number was part of the more than 712,000 people around the world who have died. It is important to remember that these numbers represent members of parishes, communities, and also the great number of people who personally grieve these deaths. This week also saw the tragic news about the destructive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon where at least 137 were killed, more than 5,000 wounded and more than 300,000 people displaced from their homes. The prayer offered here is for all those who are mourning.
Dearest Jesus, who wept at the death of your friend and taught that they who mourn shall be comforted, grant us the comfort of your presence in our loss.
Send Your Holy Spirit to direct us lest we make hasty or foolish decisions.
Send Your Spirit to give us courage lest through fear we recoil from living.
Send Your Spirit to bring us your peace lest bitterness, false guilt, or regret take root in our hearts.
The Lord has given.
The Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Amen.
Trivia
Which act was signed into law on which day to provide assistance for retirement?
Please send your answers to socialpolicy@catholiccharitiesusa.org
On July 31st, the trivia question was, "When was the first census in the United States?"
Cassie Paoli was the first to identify that the first census in the United States occurred in 1790 with the official Census day of August 2, 1790.
The first census began more than a year after the inauguration of President Washington and shortly before the second session of the first Congress ended. Congress assigned responsibility for the 1790 census to the marshals of the U.S. judicial districts under an act which, with minor modifications and extensions, governed census taking through 1840. The law required that every household be visited, that completed census schedules be posted in "two of the most public places within [each jurisdiction], there to remain for the inspection of all concerned..." and that "the aggregate amount of each description of persons" for every district be transmitted to the president.
Over the years, there have been changes to the questions and the technology used to tabulate the results. If you are interested in the history of the census, click here to learn more.
If you still need to respond to the U.S. Census, click here.
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