WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2020) US unemployment could reach single-digits again as a third straight month of jobs growth in July signals an economy that's self-sustaining despite the new wave of COVID-19 infections in the country, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday.
"You're going to see single digit unemployment rates, but we're not going to get back to where we were at the peak in February, I grant you that," Kudlow told FOX news, referring to the� jobless rate that stood at a near 50-year low of 3.6 percent then. "But the idea that we're going to get down to, you know, below 10 or 9 or 8 percent [is possible]."
Kudlow's comments came after the Labor Department said the United States added 1.8 million jobs in July, slowing from June's 4.8-million jobs gain, as a new wave of COVID-19 infections hampered the labor market recovery from the pandemic. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 10.2 percent from a previous 11.1.
Kudlow said the July numbers were proof that unemployment did not explode in the summer and worsen ahead of November elections where President Donald Trump will be seeking a new term of office.
To boost his reelection prospects, Trump needs as many Americans working as possible to revive the economy from a record decline of nearly 33 percent in the second quarter.
The president's Republican party and its Democratic rival have been deadlocked in Congress over the past week on whether to extend a $600 weekly benefit to jobless Americans that expired last week.� Trump wants the weekly benefit cut to $200, saying the earlier payout was so "generous" that it discouraged many from returning to work, even with businesses having reopened from lockdowns forced by the pandemic.
The president on Thursday said he has instructed his staff to draft an Executive Order on unemployment benefits and other aid for jobless Americans that he was expected to sign should the impasse continue.
Kudlow labeled the continued recovery in employment, albeit at a slower rate, a "self sustaining recovery" that will likely bring "a big change in attitude" among Americans, despite the new wave of coronavirus infections in the country.
Nearly 4.9 million Americans have already been infected by the COVID-19 so far, with a death toll reaching above 160,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.� A model by the University of Washington has predicted 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by Oct. 1, casting doubts on economic recovery.
