ICYMI: News From The Recovery [April 6, 2021]
ICYMI: News From The Recovery
March Jobs Report A “Turning Point”; American Jobs Plan Will Create Millions of Jobs, Modernize Infrastructure, & Transform Economy
The American Rescue Plan was enacted less than a month ago, but it has already changed the course of the myriad of crises facing our country. The landmark legislation has helped spur our recovery, with the U.S. adding nearly one million jobs in March and administering vaccines at a pace that’s nearly 5 times faster than the global average with more than 3 million jabs delivered daily.
Where we stand now: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 916,000 in March 2021, with economists calling this latest data a turning point in our recovery as job gains accelerate and trends stabilize. As Chair of the House Budget Committee John Yarmuth said, “[The] jobs report makes clear that investing in the health, well-being, and economic security of American families is not only the right thing to do, it is smart economic policy.”
However, the economy is still 8.4 million jobs short of February 2020 levels. Millions of workers — particularly women and people of color — remain out of work through no fault of their own as our economy starts to heal from the pandemic-driven devastation of the past year.
The Administration’s transformative American Jobs Plan will help ensure a strong and inclusive recovery. The forward-thinking and long-overdue investments outlined in the proposal will build on hard-won gains by creating millions of good-paying jobs, fixing our failing infrastructure, positioning the U.S. as a leader in the global marketplace, and making major investments to transform our country and create a better future for all American families.
HERE’S WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT…
1. The New York Times: The U.S. added 916,000 jobs in March as the recovery gained steam
The U.S. jobs rebound picked up steam last month, fueled by the accelerating pace of vaccinations and a new injection of federal aid.
…Economists said the latest data marked a turning point. Last month was the third straight month of accelerating hiring, and even bigger gains are likely in the months ahead. The March data was collected early in the month, before most states broadened vaccine access and before most Americans began receiving $1,400 checks from the federal government as part of the most recent relief package.
…But few economists expect a repeat of the winter, when a spike in Covid-19 cases pushed the recovery into reverse. More than a quarter of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and more than two million people a day are being inoculated. That should allow economic activity to continue to rebound.
“This time is different, and that’s because of vaccines,” said Julia Pollak, a labor economist at the job site ZipRecruiter. “It’s real this time.”
2. The Washington Post: With stimulus cash and jobs spike, U.S. emerges as main engine for global economic recovery
…Amid steady progress with coronavirus vaccinations, the U.S. economy is gathering so much steam that its gains will not stay at home. Demand for goods and services this year is expected to spill well beyond U.S. borders, making the United States the largest single contributor to global growth for the first time since 2005, according to Oxford Economics.
The U.S. ascent ends — at least for now — China’s long reign as the principal engine powering the $90 trillion global economy.
…“We are ahead of the world,” said Kristin Forbes, who was one of President George W. Bush’s White House economic advisers. “And a meaningful share of the stimulus is likely to leak abroad.”
Fresh evidence of the U.S. outperformance appeared on Friday as the Labor Department reported that the economy had gained 916,000 new jobs in March and that the unemployment rate fell to a post-recession low of 6 percent.
…“China was leading the recovery last year and the U.S. is picking up the baton this year,” said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
3. Moody’s: The Macroeconomic Consequences of the American Jobs Plan
…The nation has underinvested in infrastructure for decades. This weighs more and more heavily on businesses’ competitiveness and the economy’s productivity growth and is increasing our vulnerability to climate change.
…With close to 3 million more workers still permanently unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, an infrastructure plan that provides new jobs in communities across the country would be particularly effective.
4. New York Times: Biden Details $2 Trillion Plan to Rebuild Infrastructure and Reshape the Economy
President Biden introduced a $2 trillion plan on Wednesday to overhaul and upgrade the nation’s infrastructure, calling it a transformational effort that could create the “most resilient, innovative economy in the world.”
…But even spread over years, the scale of the proposal underscores how fully Mr. Biden has embraced the opportunity to use federal spending to address longstanding social and economic challenges in a way not seen in a half-century.
Officials said that, if approved, the spending in the plan would end decades of stagnation in federal investment in research and infrastructure — and would return government investment in those areas, as a share of the economy, to its highest levels since the 1960s.
5. New York Times: Biden Seeks to Use Infrastructure Plan to Address Racial Inequities
…More than a half-century later, President Biden’s $2 trillion plan to rebuild aging roads, bridges, rail lines and other foundations of the economy comes with a new twist: hundreds of billions of dollars that administration officials say will help reverse long-running racial disparities in how the government builds, repairs and locates a wide range of physical infrastructure.
6. The Nation: Biden’s ‘Transformative’ Plan Redefines Infrastructure to Include Caregiving
…But the boldest component of the president’s agenda is its $400 billion commitment to fund the care infrastructure of a just and humane society.
…The Biden plan acknowledges this reality with proposals to create jobs and raise wages and benefits for care workers. And it does so in language that recognizes an emerging understanding of how investing in the human beings who care for children, seniors, and people with disabilities is just as vital for the economy as investing in roads and bridges.
CHECK THIS CHART
In a thread, the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) breaks down the March jobs report. While we are narrowing the gap between real gains and re-pandemic projected gains, we still have a long way to go.
