Americans

Americans ‘are paying the price’ for shoddy coronavirus response, doctor says

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

The spike in coronavirus cases in parts of the U.S. came as no surprise to many public health experts. 

Arizona, Texas, and Florida are three states, in particular, that reopened their economies sooner than others are seeing record numbers of hospitalizations and cases. 

“We’ve seen a roughly 300% increase in the number of cases statewide, in ICU and hospital usage here in Austin and Houston,” Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, a primary care physician and internal medicine specialist in Austin, Texas, said on Yahoo Finance’s The Ticker (video above). “This is part of that first wave. We just frankly didn’t open in the right way. Didn’t embrace key public health principles and are paying the price for it right now.” 

Coronavirus cases keep climbing outside the U.S. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

‘An absence of leadership’

Houston and Austin are both seeing major surges in hospitalizations, so much so that ICU bed

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Another 1.34 million Americans expected to have filed for unemployment benefits

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

More than three months into the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S., countless Americans are still unemployed. Thursday’s release of the weekly initial jobless claims data could show another week of claims exceeding 1 million.

Economist surveyed by Bloomberg predict another 1.335 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 30, following 1.51 million claims in the prior week. While last week’s report marked 11 consecutive weeks of deceleration, more than 45 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance over the past 13 weeks.

Read more: Coronavirus: How to find a job in a tough economy

(Yahoo Finance/David Foster)

Continuing claims, which lags initial jobless claims data by one week, is expected to total 20 million in the week ending June 13, down from 20.54 million in the week ending June 6.

“Initial jobless claims continue to moderate only gradually,” Nomura economist Lewis Alexander wrote in a

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Another 1.29 million Americans expected to have filed for unemployment benefits

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

A handful of recent economic data pointed toward a quicker-than-expected recovery, and the weekly initial jobless claims report Thursday will provide investors with additional clues on the state of the U.S. labor market.

Another 1.29 million Americans are expected to have filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 13. In the prior week, there were 1.54 million jobless claims, and it marked 10 consecutive weeks of deceleration. Over the past 3 months, more than 44 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance.

(Yahoo Finance/David Foster)

Continuing claims, which lags initial jobless claims data by one week, is expected to total 19.85 million in the week ending June 6, following 20.93 million in the prior week.

Initial jobless claims data isn’t necessarily a perfect indicator of the U.S. labor market, but it still is useful, according to Wells Fargo Securities. “Over-reliance on jobless claims led every forecaster to

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Another 1.55 million Americans expected to have filed for unemployment benefits

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

On the heels of the blowout May jobs report, market participants will get another update on how the U.S. Labor Market is faring amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis with the weekly jobless claims report Thursday morning.

An additional 1.55 million Americans are expected to have filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 6, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. In the prior week, there were 1.88 million initial jobless claims. Over the past 11 weeks, more than 42 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance.

Read more: Coronavirus: How to find a job in a tough economy

(Yahoo Finance/David Foster)

Continuing claims, which lags initial jobless claims data by one week, is expected to total 20 million in the week ending May 30 following 21.49 million in the prior week, from 20.84 million in the previous week. Consensus expectations were for 20 million continuing claims.

“Altogether, incoming

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Americans in both parties increasingly think the social safety net needs to be expanded

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

Since the coronavirus crisis – and accompanying recession – began three months ago. Congress has responded by ushering in a range of changes to the social safety net on things from unemployment insurance to paid family leave.

The catch is that nearly all of these changes come with an expiration date. A new survey finds widespread support for making at least some of them permanent.

Only 24% of likely voters wanted “the government to return to the role it had before the crisis occurred.”

“Far too many hard-working Americans were already living paycheck to paycheck before the pandemic, which has exposed the fragility of America’s social safety net,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation, which oversaw the survey along with The Bipartisan Policy Center.

The survey also laid out just how disproportionate the effect of the crisis has been on communities of color. “It’s a pretty

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