US Unemployment Set To Remain Above Prepandemic Levels Until 2030 - CBO

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd July, 2020) The US unemployment rate will remain above prepandemic levels throughout the next decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said on Thursday in its updated economic outlook for the next 10 years.

"The unemployment rate remains above its prepandemic level through the end of the projection period," the CBO said.

The report goes on to say that the unemployment is set to peak above 14 percent in the third quarter of this year, before declining as the economy reopens in the fourth quarter and throughout 2021.

The report, however, takes into account only employment data up to June 26. Earlier in the day, the United States Department of Labor announced that the US economy added 4.8 million jobs in June as businesses continued to reopen from lockdowns forced by the coronavirus pandemic, with the unemployment rate sliding to 11.1 percent from a historic 14.7 percent two months ago.

US President Donald Trump lauded the better-than-expected jobs numbers at a press briefing, adding "it will be a third quarter the likes of which nobody has ever seen before in my opinion, and the good thing is the numbers will be coming out just prior to the election."