WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is downplaying record-setting jobless claims recorded last week, saying employment will bounce back after the threat of the coronavirus passes.
“To be honest, I think these numbers right now aren’t relevant, whether they’re bigger or smaller, in the short term,” Mnuchin said in a telephone interview on CNBC.
Mnuchin, who represented the White House in negotiations on a massive stimulus deal the Senate passed Wednesday, spoke shortly after the Labor Department announced the number of jobless claims filed the week ending March 21 hit 3.3 million – a record-shattering number.
The overall unemployment rate – which has hit record lows recently, and was expected to be a major plank in President Donald Trump's re-election bid – is also expected to soar in the coming weeks and months.
In his CNBC interview, Mnuchin predicted that businesses will start re-hiring as the epidemic passes, thanks in part to the $2 trillion stimulus bill now pending in Congress.
- David Jackson
Pentagon: coronavirus cases increase 38%
Cases of COVID-19 continued to rise on Wednesday, reaching 574 cases among troops, their families and civilian employees, the Pentagon reported Thursday. That compares with 415 on Tuesday, an increase of 38%.
Troops had the largest share of cases with 280 ill with the disease. Its spread among the ranks prompted Defense Secretary Mark Esper late Wednesday to halt travel for all troops and their families for 60 days, essentially ordering them to shelter in place. The order will affect about 90,000 troops whose deployments and moves to new posts will be postponed.
Wednesday also saw the first case of COVID-19 inside the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. military. A Marine tested positive for the coronavirus, and his workplace was sanitized by a dedicated team. Pentagon officials are determining the Marine’s contacts with others.
At sea, the Navy is dealing with an outbreak on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. On Tuesday, three sailors tested positive for the virus and were flown from the ship, which is operating in the Pacific. Five more sailors were found infected on Wednesday, and, they, too were airlifted to a military hospital. Navy officials are tracing their contacts among the 5,000 sailors aboard the Roosevelt.
- Tom Vanden Brook
Trump, G-20 leader hold video conference on coronavirus
President Donald Trump and other leaders of the Group of 20 nations – the G-20 – met by video conference Thursday to discuss some kind of global response to the coronavirus pandemic.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus was scheduled to address the group about the need to finance and produce more personal protection equipment like masks and gloves for besieged medical workers across the globe.
The event was closed to the press.
The current G-20 chairman, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, said he called the "virtual summit" to work on a "global response" to the outbreak.
"As the world confronts the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges to healthcare systems and the global economy, we convene this extraordinary G20 summit to unite efforts towards a global response," he tweeted before the meeting. "May God spare humanity from all harm."
The conference came a day after another international economic group – the Group of Seven industrialized nations, or G-7 – failed to agree on a joint statement about coronavirus.
The reason: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted on referring to the epidemic as the "Wuhan virus," saying China has a special responsibility to address the impact of the disease because it started in that country. Other G-7 members called the designation needlessly provocative.
- David Jackson
Pelosi's 80th birthday comes ahead of big House vote
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi celebrated her 80th birthday Thursday getting ready to shepherd the biggest economic bill in history through the U.S. House she leads. The Senate version of the coronavirus relief bill turned out to be 880 pages long, presumably a coincidence and not a tribute.
Eighty years ago, news of her birth, the daughter of a first-term Baltimore congressman, also made headlines in the local press. It was a time, though, that any thoughts of a political dynasty focused on her five older brothers, not on the only girl in the family.
“It’s a Girl for the D’Alesandro’s,” The Baltimore News-Post headline declared over a four-column photo at the top of the front page that showed the swaddled newborn only hours after she was born at the city’s St. Joseph Hospital.
The Baltimore Sun took a more political tilt: “Tommy D’Alesandro Announces Another Sure Vote – It’s a Girl.”
The Baltimore Guide offered a prediction that in retrospect seems practically prescient. “D’Alesandro Will Find New Boss in First Daughter,” it said, adding, “We predict that this little lady will soon be a ‘Queen’ in her own right.”
- Susan Page
Senate passes coronavirus package. House to vote Friday
The Senate passed a $2 trillion economic rescue package – the largest such measure in U.S. history – just before midnight on Wednesday in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The measure now heads to the House, which is expected to vote on the measure Friday.
"Congratulations AMERICA!" President Donald Trump tweeted after the measure was approved in a 96-0 vote following days of heated debate. Two earlier efforts to introduce the initial version of the bill failed to make it to a final vote before Democrats agreed to the current package.
Trump plans to sign the bill once it clears the House, where Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said it is expected to pass when the body reconvenes at 9 a.m. EDT on Friday.
The third, and largest, economic aid package out of Congress since the coronavirus outbreak began includes one-time payments of $1,200 to individuals making less than $75,000, as well as $500 per child, $367 billion for small businesses, more than $130 billion toward the health care system, expanded unemployment benefits and $500 billion in loans for ailing industries.
Full text: The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill released
The virus has spread to all 50 states and the U.S. now trails only China and Italy in confirmed cases, which now number nearly 70,000. One thousand people have died as of Thursday morning, but that number is expected to rise in the coming days and weeks.
Businesses across the country have shutdown in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. The aid package aims to lift some of the burden on small businesses that are fighting to avoid collapse amid the crisis and the workers who won't be collecting paychecks.
A Labor Department report on Thursday will reveal the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits after the outbreak.
– William Cummings
Fed chairman: 'We may well be in a recession'
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the economy may be in recession as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but has potential to rebound depending on how quickly the virus is contained.
During an interview with NBC's Today show, Powell said the economy was in a strong position before the COVID-19 outbreak spread in the United States, citing 50-year lows in unemployment.
"We may well be in a recession," said Powell during the interview, but added this recession is different from normal, and there is nothing "fundamentally wrong" with the economy.
"This is a situation where people are being asked to step back from economic activity, close their businesses, stay home from work," said Powell. "In principle, if we get the virus spread under control fairly quickly, then economic activity can resume, and we want to make that rebound as vigorous as possible."
- Brett Molina
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