Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 11th Democratic candidates debate of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, held in CNN's Washington studios without an audience because of the global coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Former Vice President Joe Biden demands president Donald Trump take "extraordinary steps" to arrest the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic even as initial unemployment claims in the United States skyrocket to a stupefying 10 million in only two weeks.
On Thursday, the Department of Labor delivered the horrific news more than 6.6 million Americans filed initial unemployment claims for the seven days from March 22 to 28. This fantastic total more than doubled the roughly 3.28 million seasonally adjusted initial claims from March 15 to 21. The 6.6 million figure is the largest in U.S. history and was created by the coronavirus-induced economic shutdown keeping employees from the jobs and people from spending.
Before the pandemic forced major parts of the economy such as travel and tourism to shut down, the highest week for claims was 695,000 in 1982. The 2008 Great Recession high was 665,000 in March 2009.
"Not only was the number worse than expected, but with lockdowns becoming stricter and being extended, we should anticipate further surges in jobless claims over the coming weeks," said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones projected 3.1 million initial jobless claims. The jaw-dropping jobless claims came only week after 3.3 million filings, which is considered only the first wave of a record-breaking jump in joblessness.
Economists are also warning the numbers will get worse. They say claims remain underreported and don't reflect changes made to unemployment in the coronavirus care package.
Biden, a staunch critic of Trump's handling of the COVID-19 crisis, described the 6.6 million figure as "alarming." He said this number puts "working families and the American middle class through unimaginable financial pain -- and they need to be made whole as fast as possible."
"The economic damage from the worst public health crisis our country has faced in generations is both rising and deepening at an alarming rate," said Biden. "It is putting working families and the American middle class through unimaginable financial pain -- and they need to be made whole as fast as possible."
Biden pointed out the economic devastation American families are experiencing by no fault of their own "means we have to take extraordinary steps to protect them." He also urged the Trump administration to reopen the healthcare exchanges to enable those without health insurance to buy coverage.
Biden said Trump has a responsibility to help states provide economic relief to Americans impacted by COVID-19 and should stop blaming state governments for what he claims is inadequate action.
"No blame games or finger-points -- the President has to take responsibility for helping the states make that happen," Biden pointed out. "We still need to keep as many workers on payroll as possible, and as many small businesses in business. And we need to get the direct cash relief into Americans' bank accounts without delay."
