14 million Americans are about to lose unemployment benefits if Trump holds stimulus talks up
Dec 23, 2020, 22:20 IST
- President Donald Trump is slowing momentum on stimulus. The delay could result in millions — up to 14 — of Americans losing unemployment benefits the day after Christmas.
- In a Tuesday night video, the lame-duck president slammed the $900 billion relief package passed by Congress. Trump called the package a "disgrace" and asked that Congress amend the bill to increase $600 stimulus checks to $2,000. It is unclear if Trump would veto an unamended stimulus package.
- The stall could further devastate the finances of millions of jobless Americans.
- Per a new data release from the Dept. of Labor, the week ending in December 5 saw 9.3 million self-employed and gig workers relying on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program and 4.8 million people relying on the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.
- Both pandemic-related programs are slated to end on December 26.
- Those Americans may not get another chance at a monetary lifeline until the January 20 inauguration.
- "President Trump's apparent refusal to immediately sign the $900 billion dollar stimulus legislation has injected uncertainty or worse into the effort to protect millions of Americans from falling over a financial cliff," Mark Hamrick, senior economist at the consumer finances firm Bankrate told Business Insider in a statement.
- "The stimulus package was imperfect, very late, but better late than never and far better than nothing," Hamrick continued. "It would make the difference between an economy that could contract in the first quarter versus remaining above water."
- The expirations are another lump of coal in the K-shaped Christmas, where Americans at the top of the economy are saving up and those at the bottom are falling more.
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