Deadlines set by Congress early in the pandemic will result in about 12 million Americans losing unemployment insurance by the year’s end, according to a report released today, the Washington Post reported. According to the report from unemployment researchers Andrew Stettner and Elizabeth Pancotti, those Americans will lose their unemployment benefits the day after Christmas — more than half of the 21.1 million people currently on the benefits — due to deadlines Congress chose when it passed the Cares Act in March amid optimism the pandemic would be short-lived. Another 4.4 million people have already exhausted their benefits this year, according to Stettner and Pancotti, who wrote the report for the Century Foundation, a public policy research group. The “benefits cliff” on Dec. 26 includes an additional 7.3 million workers on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the supplemental insurance for gig and self-employed workers, which ends that day, as well as 4.6 million people on Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, the unemployment insurance extension available for people who have exhausted regular benefits after what is typically about six months, depending on the state. A nationwide eviction moratorium expires on Dec. 31, raising concerns that jobless Americans could fall into homelessness. Read more.
In related news, the Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs from major U.S. companies, is calling for a slew of immediate government actions to address the rapidly growing COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences, including a national mask mandate and action on a relief bill, The Hill reported. “It’s not as though it’s either safety or economic recovery. There is no economic recovery without safety,” the group's president, Joshua Bolten, said yesterday. In remarks that were critical of the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic without directly mentioning the president, Bolten laid out a slew of priorities to get the pandemic under control and boost businesses. In addition to a national mask mandate, Bolten said the government needs to issue clear safety guidelines for businesses, implement a national testing strategy and reengage with the World Health Organization. Bolten also said yesterday that one of the most critical things for the economy would be immediate action by Congress on another relief measure. “We’re in the ‘it should be enacted now’ camp,” he said when asked whether such a bill could wait until after the new year. Read more.
