The final jobs report of 2020 shows a labor market teetering on the brink, as the pandemic’s chokehold on the economy strengthens. More Winning!
“It’s eerily reminiscent of when Joe Biden took office as vice president facing a significant jobs challenge,” said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation. “I think they’re going to have a lot of urgency to do something early on.”
The economy shed 140,000 jobs in December, a clear indication that the pandemic’s chokehold on economic activity strengthened in the final weeks of last year.
The unemployment rate held steady at 6.7 percent.
Economists say the numbers lay bare the struggles facing American workers, and represent a mandate for President-elect Joe Biden’s administration to accomplish two things: Address the immediate financial needs of these households, and develop a longer-term solution that fosters job growth and protects the workers most vulnerable to disenfranchisement.
