Coronavirus inflicts huge U.S. job losses; Pence aide infected

By Lucia Mutikani and Maria Caspani

 

A JetBlue A320 aircraft conducts a flyover salute of New York City to honor frontline healthcare workers during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey, U.S., May 7, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files

 

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic triggered the steepest monthly loss of U.S. jobs since the Great Depression, data showed on Friday, and a second White House aide tested positive, raising questions over measures to protect President Donald Trump.

 

A day after the White House confirmed the Republican president's personal valet had tested positive for the virus, Trump told reporters it had also infected Katie Miller, the press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence. She is married to senior Trump aide and immigration policy hard-liner Stephen Miller and travels frequently with Pence.

 

"We've taken every single precaution to protect the president," White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told reporters.

 

Labor Department data showed U.S. unemployment rose 14.7% last month - up from 3.5% in February - demonstrating the speed at which the U.S. economy collapsed after stay-at-home policies were imposed in much of the country to try to curb the spread of the outbreak.

 

Even worse economic news may come yet. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the unemployment rate was likely to move up to around 20% this month.

 

The economic devastation has put a sense of urgency into efforts by U.S. states to get their economies moving again, even though infection rates and deaths are still climbing in some parts of the country.

 

Underscoring the wide-ranging threat from the pathogen, a 5-year-old boy has died in New York from a rare inflammatory syndrome believed to be linked to the coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

 

The virus has killed nearly 76,000 Americans with more than 1.26 million confirmed cases, according to a Reuters tally.

 

One of the fatalities was a 5-year old boy who died in New York from a rare inflammatory syndrome believed to be linked to the novel coronavirus, highlighting a potential new risk for children in the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.

 

The condition, first reported in Britain, Italy and Spain, can attack multiple organs, impair heart function and weaken heart arteries.

 

Just as the pathogen itself has hit black and Hispanic Americans especially hard - they are overrepresented in the U.S. death toll relative to their population size - minorities also have suffered greater job losses during the crisis.

 

The April unemployment rate was 14.2% for white Americans, but the rate reached 16.7% among African Americans and 18.9% among Hispanic Americans, the data showed. There also was a gender disparity, with the jobless rate at 13% for men and 15.5% for women.

 

Overall, an astounding 20.5 million U.S. jobs were lost in April - the steepest loss since the Great Depression some 90 years ago - and the jobless rate broke the post-World War Two record of 10.8% in November 1982, the government said.

 

Adding to the pain, millions of Americans have been unable to register for unemployment benefits due to bureaucratic hurdles, with the problem worse in some states than others.

 

Trump, seeking re-election in November, initially played down the threat posed by the coronavirus and has given inconsistent messages about how long the economic shutdown would last and the conditions under which states should reopen businesses.

 

"Those jobs will all be back, and they'll be back very soon," Trump told Fox News on Friday.

 

'JUST SO TENSE'

 

Rita Trivedi, 63, of Hudson, Florida, was furloughed as an analyst at Nielsen Media Research on April 23 and has struggled to secure benefits from the state's troubled unemployment system. Trivedi worries that she does not have enough money to cover her husband's medical bills and other expenses.

 

"I'm more than anxious, I'm more than worried - it's 'can't sleep' kind of anxious," Trivedi said in an interview. "I'm just so tense thinking about these things and how to manage."

 

California, where the first statewide stay-at-home orders were issued on March 19, moved forward with a partial reopening plan on Friday, allowing manufacturing facilities that meet certain infection-control criteria to resume operations and permitting some retail workplaces, such as bookstores, jewelry stores, clothing stores, sporting goods stores and florists, to offer curbside pick-up and delivery services.

 

In Los Angeles, few of those stores were open in the downtown area. In-store shopping is not permitted.

 

Tesla Inc was aiming to restart production in its U.S. car plant in Fremont, California, on Friday afternoon, according to an email sent by Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk to staff.

 

But a health official in Alameda County, where the assembly plant is located, said local lockdown measures remain in effect there and supersede Governor Gavin Newsom's relaxation of statewide restrictions. "We've been working with them, but we have not given the green light," Alameda County health officer Erica Pan said of Tesla.

 

At least 40 of the 50 U.S. states - including states where cases and deaths are on the upswing - are taking steps to lift restrictions that had affected all but essential businesses. For example, Arizona, Mississippi and South Dakota on Friday all reported record numbers of cases.

 

Public health experts said reopening prematurely risks fueling fresh outbreaks. They also have raised concerns that a state-by-state hodgepodge of differing policies confuses the public and undermines social distancing efforts.

 

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, Jeff Mason, Mari Caspani, Andy Sullivan, Lisa Shumaker, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lisa Lambert, Tim Ahmann and Susan Heavey; Writing by Will Dunham, Editing by Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-09

 

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The Unemployment numbers in the US are much higher than 14.7%. The entity producing the monthly number is the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). They use a model that smooths data as well as does something called a 'seasonal adjustment'. The model works sort of okay in normal times, but it was not built to deal with a period of massive job losses, so it is not accurate or reflective of the current reality. The country is too big and job gains and losses are too numerous on a regular basis for them to have anything approaching an exact measurement, so their model is based on studies of the likelihood of businesses opening or closing, people hired or fired, utilizing long term historical trends and data.  An adequate model until a Black Swan enters, which has now happened.

 

One can do an approximate calculation by knowing a few factors. In January, the supposed labor force of employed people was 168 million, and with that the UE rate was 3.5%. In six weeks 31 million filed for Unemployment Claims (some laid off did not, but we can just use those who actually filed). A quick, back-of-the-envelop calc is then 31/168 + .035.  That equals 22%.

 

US Unemployment at the end of April was thus at least 22%, not the # the inadequate BLS model provided.

4 minutes ago, Tug said:

as miller himself I hope he gets really really sick he deserves it

Appalling.

Just now, TopDeadSenter said:

Appalling.

Ahhh no mr Miller is appalling no excuses separating toddlers from their families none you don’t intentionally damage children no excuses none I hope he pays

I remember how I felt when ObL was taken out. There was a feeling that somehow the Universe occasionally cleans up its act.

 

I look forward to having that feeling again seeing that Ground Zero of all that is wrong with the US has now become infected.

 

So many people said 'the world is a better place' after ObL, Saddam, Gadhafi, etc. departed. Today, the world is in desperate need of being 'a better place' again, and maybe we are getting hints that it is about to happen.

“the White House confirmed the Republican president's personal valet had tested positive for the virus, Trump told reporters it had also infected Katie Miller, the press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence. “

 

I feel it appropriate to offer my thoughts and prayers.

 

 

So opening up, with a rising number of new infections in many states.

Notice that while the Trump administration has consistently hindered the expansion of testing and is encouraging the abandonment of lockdowns without knowing the prevalence of the disease from the lack of testing, the White House protects itself with daily testing.

57 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Did he change his name, or are you calling him a Nazi because he holds differing opinions to yourself? How does that reflect your own capacity for tolerance?

 IIRC the kids in cages fiasco all began under Obamas tenure. I lost count how many times on Twitter the left were ranting and raving about how disgraceful the detentions were, and then it was gently pointed out the date of the photos, and yep, crickets.

 At least we can all be thankful that Trump maintained a hard border with Mexico which helped contain coronavirus and doubtless saved many American lives, compared to the mayhem an open southern border would have caused if the opposition were in power. 

I changed his name for two reasons:

 

His policies exhibit the same degree of crimes against humanity as his new namesake, and because absent the mustache and glasses, he could be a descendant or at least a doppelganger.

 

Perhaps you think separating kids from parents for life is okay, or caging them is humane. People who do not subscribe to the Nationalist Socialist ideology do not.

 

You do not remember correctly that kids in cages began under Obama. That's a right wing lie that has been proven false too many times to note.

 

As for the so-called 'hard border', the astonishing level of deaths in the US came from the abject failure of 'that guy' and his unwillingness to face reality that might interfere with his personal goals. 43,000 people came from China into the US after the supposed travel ban, and the US imported the East Coast strain from Europe.  Had the "opposition" been in power, they could have benefited from the Pandemic Response Team set up by Obama, and used the Pandemic Response Manual that his Admin left behind, after so successfully halting the Ebola spread.  The current weak 'leader' disbanded the PRT and tossed the manual, and also slashed funding to both the CDC and NIH, two govt organizations never needed more than in 2020.

 

Also, the US intel community began warning of both the outbreak and China's quashing knowledge of it as far back as November 2019.  No less than 18 times did the warning appear in the PDB, and 'that guy' ignored it every time. Had he paid attention and acted the way the Obama Admin did re Ebola, the US might have had the same experience with CV-19 as South Korea or Taiwan. Instead, we get silly false paths (like hydroxychloroquine and Lysol) and---so far---77,000 deaths.

 

That guy is an abject failure. Zero leadership, and zero concern for the lives of the people he ostensibly rules.

Edited May 9, 20206 yr by Walker88

To borrow an argument from our illiberal brethren, is the virus killing jobs and the economy or were the jobs already on life support and the economy already sick?

 

Prior to the Pandemic 60% of Americans did not have access to $500 to cover an emergency, millions were working jobs with no security of tenure, millions more had no health insurance, an endless treadmill of precariously living paycheck to paycheck as the middle classes followed the working classes into poverty.

 

7 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

To borrow an argument from our illiberal brethren, is the virus killing jobs and the economy or were the jobs already on life support and the economy already sick?

 

Prior to the Pandemic 60% of Americans did not have access to $500 to cover an emergency, millions were working jobs with no security of tenure, millions more had no health insurance, an endless treadmill of precariously living paycheck to paycheck as the middle classes followed the working classes into poverty.

 

78% of Americans lived paycheck to paycheck before CV-19. That hardly constitutes 'best economy ever', nor does an average (before CV-19) of GDP growth under 'that guy' that was lower than 71% of all quarters since the end of WWII. Now that the US is in Recession, the list is complete: every single R POTUS since Lincoln has presided over a Recession. Many Dems have avoided it, but not a single R has. The stock market performs better under Dems than R's, too, going back 100 years or more.

 

For almost 2 decades the US, and the world, has been fighting the loss of pricing power of unskilled labor. Tech is also moving up the food chain and obviating skilled labor, too. An earlier 'solution' was to increase debt and create a 3rd household income (house appreciation against which one could borrow). That blew up in 2008.

 

Obama tried to salvage that economy, driving UE down from a high of 10.4% down to 4.8%. He forced banks to lower leverage, alter lending standards, and issue new capital, thereby saving the world's financial system. He juiced the stock market 220% from its 666 (vice S&P500) low, which put wealth back into 401Ks. He saved the insurance industry, which was on the brink of failure, and which would have stopped virtually all business (as CV-19 is doing now). It was a noble effort, but it could not change the underlying trend, that human labor is increasingly unnecessary.

 

CV-19 is going to hasten the decline in the standard of living and lead to the continued obviation of labor.

With respect to the Pence aid and Trump's valet who have tested positive, my thoughts and prayers go out to one little virus right there who, with luck, can make Nancy Pelosi president.

2 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

78% of Americans lived paycheck to paycheck before CV-19. That hardly constitutes 'best economy ever', nor does an average (before CV-19) of GDP growth under 'that guy' that was lower than 71% of all quarters since the end of WWII. Now that the US is in Recession, the list is complete: every single R POTUS since Lincoln has presided over a Recession. Many Dems have avoided it, but not a single R has. The stock market performs better under Dems than R's, too, going back 100 years or more.

 

For almost 2 decades the US, and the world, has been fighting the loss of pricing power of unskilled labor. Tech is also moving up the food chain and obviating skilled labor, too. An earlier 'solution' was to increase debt and create a 3rd household income (house appreciation against which one could borrow). That blew up in 2008.

 

Obama tried to salvage that economy, driving UE down from a high of 10.4% down to 4.8%. He forced banks to lower leverage, alter lending standards, and issue new capital, thereby saving the world's financial system. He juiced the stock market 220% from its 666 (vice S&P500) low, which put wealth back into 401Ks. He saved the insurance industry, which was on the brink of failure, and which would have stopped virtually all business (as CV-19 is doing now). It was a noble effort, but it could not change the underlying trend, that human labor is increasingly unnecessary.

 

CV-19 is going to hasten the decline in the standard of living and lead to the continued obviation of labor.

Or it could lead to more progressive policy as happened during the Great Depression.

13 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

78% of Americans lived paycheck to paycheck before CV-19. That hardly constitutes 'best economy ever', nor does an average (before CV-19) of GDP growth under 'that guy' that was lower than 71% of all quarters since the end of WWII. Now that the US is in Recession, the list is complete: every single R POTUS since Lincoln has presided over a Recession. Many Dems have avoided it, but not a single R has. The stock market performs better under Dems than R's, too, going back 100 years or more.

 

For almost 2 decades the US, and the world, has been fighting the loss of pricing power of unskilled labor. Tech is also moving up the food chain and obviating skilled labor, too. An earlier 'solution' was to increase debt and create a 3rd household income (house appreciation against which one could borrow). That blew up in 2008.

 

Obama tried to salvage that economy, driving UE down from a high of 10.4% down to 4.8%. He forced banks to lower leverage, alter lending standards, and issue new capital, thereby saving the world's financial system. He juiced the stock market 220% from its 666 (vice S&P500) low, which put wealth back into 401Ks. He saved the insurance industry, which was on the brink of failure, and which would have stopped virtually all business (as CV-19 is doing now). It was a noble effort, but it could not change the underlying trend, that human labor is increasingly unnecessary.

 

CV-19 is going to hasten the decline in the standard of living and lead to the continued obviation of labor.

Under the existing economic model yes, I agree.

 

 

3 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Appalling.

Yes miller is appalling.

Are Tyson Foods workers as well as all essential workers tested every single day, too?     

Edited May 9, 20206 yr by Opl

1 hour ago, Walker88 said:

I changed his name for two reasons:

 

His policies exhibit the same degree of crimes against humanity as his new namesake, and because absent the mustache and glasses, he could be a descendant or at least a doppelganger.

 

Perhaps you think separating kids from parents for life is okay, or caging them is humane. People who do not subscribe to the Nationalist Socialist ideology do not.

 

You do not remember correctly that kids in cages began under Obama. That's a right wing lie that has been proven false too many times to note.

 

As for the so-called 'hard border', the astonishing level of deaths in the US came from the abject failure of 'that guy' and his unwillingness to face reality that might interfere with his personal goals. 43,000 people came from China into the US after the supposed travel ban, and the US imported the East Coast strain from Europe.  Had the "opposition" been in power, they could have benefited from the Pandemic Response Team set up by Obama, and used the Pandemic Response Manual that his Admin left behind, after so successfully halting the Ebola spread.  The current weak 'leader' disbanded the PRT and tossed the manual, and also slashed funding to both the CDC and NIH, two govt organizations never needed more than in 2020.

 

Also, the US intel community began warning of both the outbreak and China's quashing knowledge of it as far back as November 2019.  No less than 18 times did the warning appear in the PDB, and 'that guy' ignored it every time. Had he paid attention and acted the way the Obama Admin did re Ebola, the US might have had the same experience with CV-19 as South Korea or Taiwan. Instead, we get silly false paths (like hydroxychloroquine and Lysol) and---so far---77,000 deaths.

 

That guy is an abject failure. Zero leadership, and zero concern for the lives of the people he ostensibly rules.

conspiracy theories run a muck,The name changing and your humanity comment  is over the top  ! You have claimed national socialist

Edited May 9, 20206 yr by riclag

4 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Appalling.

not as much as what's in Trump's mind : "So the media likes to say we have the most cases, but we do, by far, the most testing. If we did very little testing, we wouldn't have the most cases. So, in a way, by doing all of this testing, we make ourselves look bad," Trump said during a meeting with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. "  

https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/trump-says-too-much-coronavirus-testing-makes-us-look-bad-2020-5

40 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

Or it could lead to more progressive policy as happened during the Great Depression.

Problem is that debt is at all time high due to a lack of counter cycle economic measures. In good times the government has increased debt in stead of reducing it, thereby not leaving many options for bad times.

In the mean time

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-may-8-2020-222101291.html

Stock market news live updates: Wall Street rallies as data show historic jobs report collapse

31 minutes ago, Opl said:

Are Tyson Foods workers as well as all essential workers tested every single day, too?     

What do you suggest for testing workers everyday, Especially frequency! Once a day?

Edited May 9, 20206 yr by riclag

30 minutes ago, riclag said:

conspiracy theories run a muck,The name changing and your humanity comment  is over the top  ! You have claimed national socialist

Please point out the 'conspiracy theories'.

 

I am intimately familiar with both the Pandemic Response Team set up under Pres Obama as well as what was in the PDB and when it was in it.  If you claim that you, too, are intimately familiar with both, then we must know each other from work.

The crushing bill for having Trump as president is coming due -- heading for 100,000 or more dead Americans and trillions in debt added to the national deficit.

 

Because the guy refused to believe the virus was coming to America and as a result refused to do much to prepare for it and/or take steps ahead of time to prevent it.

 

Thus the U.S. was left totally unprepared, flailing in the dark, with a federal government that ultimately washed it hands of the crisis and told the states to fend for themselves.

 

I hope Americans remember all that when they go to vote in November.

 

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"We've taken every single precaution to protect the president," White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told reporters.

I'm sure that's of great comfort to the valets and aides infected in a white house, where trump's best advice is to use drugs that don't work or investigate the possible benefits of injecting oneself with disinfectant

 

maga

15 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Problem is that debt is at all time high due to a lack of counter cycle economic measures. In good times the government has increased debt in stead of reducing it, thereby not leaving many options for bad times.

US National Debt is now over $25 trillion, up $6 trillion, or 31% since this Admin took over from Obama.  In other words, 31% of total US debt in 244 years has come in the last 3.5 years. 

 

Worldwide debt is over $275 trillion, counting sovereign, corporate and personal debt.  Looking at the number in the glory of all its digits is a bit scary:

 

$275.000,000,000,000

 

There is precious little room for more, unless we all collectively agree that money grows on trees or floats in the air like CV-19.

1 hour ago, cmarshall said:

With respect to the Pence aid and Trump's valet who have tested positive, my thoughts and prayers go out to one little virus right there who, with luck, can make Nancy Pelosi president.

How lovely. Yet another post wishing death to the President of the United States of America.

9 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

Please point out the 'conspiracy theories'.

 

I am intimately familiar with both the Pandemic Response Team set up under Pres Obama as well as what was in the PDB and when it was in it.  If you claim that you, too, are intimately familiar with both, then we must know each other from work.

Where are your sources for  claiming  national socialist. Where are your sources period! Who gives you the right to change someones name willy nilly on a forum. I understand your hatred for the POTUS but the mustache rant is a stretch.  

Edited May 9, 20206 yr by riclag

17 minutes ago, riclag said:

What do you suggest for testing workers everyday, Especially frequency! Once a day?

I suggest these essential workers lives are as valuable as Pence aides lives.

Maybe are their positions even more essential.

That's just what US Governors are expressing since weeks, and finally Trump gets it, his Administration is tested as often as possible when his personal health in on the balance.

He should stay in the WH, tweet,  and stop risking other people's lives going around without wearing a mask.  

 

Edited May 9, 20206 yr by Opl

1 minute ago, Opl said:

I suggest these essential workers lives are as valuable than Pence aides lives.

Maybe are their positions even more essential.

That's just what US Governors are expressing since weeks, and finally Trump gets it, his Administration is tested as often as possible when his personal health in on the balance.

He should stay in the WH, tweet,  and stop risking other people's lives going around without wearing a mask.  

 

I don't know much about your opinion ,I would suggest you look to the experts advise ,especially the one's that advise the individuals  your critical about!

Of course the reason for the rise in unemployment in the US, and indeed worldwide, are the policies of governments to close businesses, restaurants, hotels, airports.

 

Unfortunately those policies came too late to make a difference, except of course in widespread economic damage and causing unemployment.

 

Fortunately for the US they have a president who wants to open the US up for business as soon as possible. That will be a good decision, economically, and hopefully the US will recover as quickly as possible.

 

Unfortunately some extreme Democratic governors are more afraid of the virus than unemployment and economic damage, so in those states no doubt the damage will be worse.

 

But it's good to see Trump is keen to restart business as soon as possible. That will help America and it will help the world.

Edited May 9, 20206 yr by Logosone