On Sunday, United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he anticipated the unemployment rates in the country to further increase.
“The reported numbers are probably going to get worse before they get better,” Mnuchin told the Fox News Sunday program.
The US has seen unprecedented levels of unemployment with the Labor Department revealing last Thursday that the additional 3.8 million workers who filed for unemployment benefits brought the official number to 30 million in just six weeks.
A month ago, Mnuchin stated his belief that the jobless numbers “right now aren’t relevant,” saying that many of those laid off from their jobs would be rehired after the government’s US$2.2 trillion economic relief package was implemented.
The unemployment rate surged to 14.7 percent in April surpassing the post-World War Two record of 10.8 percent in November 1982.
Mnuchin indicated the White House was talking about more measures to ease the economic pain from the pandemic, with talks of a possible payroll tax cut. However, Mnuchin also added that the federal government did not want to bail out states that were “poorly” managed.
“If there is a silver-lining in today’s dismal jobs report, it is in the realization that the economy cannot possibly get any worse than it is right now,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York.
“Joblessness can only diminish from this point forward as many states start reopening.”
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