• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
Some Americans Prepare to Go Back to Work as Jobless Claims Spike Over Virus

Some Americans Prepare to Go Back to Work as Jobless Claims Spike Over Virus

April 23, 2020
Key Senate Committee Looks To Nuke Biden Climate Spending In ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

Key Senate Committee Looks To Nuke Biden Climate Spending In ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

June 5, 2025
‘Nonpartisan’ Congressional Budget Office Is Not So Nonpartisan After All, New Report Shows

‘Nonpartisan’ Congressional Budget Office Is Not So Nonpartisan After All, New Report Shows

June 5, 2025
‘A Significant Impact’: Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill To Double Down On Border Security

‘A Significant Impact’: Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill To Double Down On Border Security

June 5, 2025
IDF Reclaims American-Israeli Couple’s Bodies From Hamas

IDF Reclaims American-Israeli Couple’s Bodies From Hamas

June 5, 2025
John Kennedy Tells ‘Morning Joe’ He Can’t ‘Understand’ Where Howard Lutnick Is Coming From On Tariffs

John Kennedy Tells ‘Morning Joe’ He Can’t ‘Understand’ Where Howard Lutnick Is Coming From On Tariffs

June 5, 2025
Charlamagne Blasts Black Dem Voters Over Being ‘Blindly Loyal And Obedient For No Damn Reason’

Charlamagne Blasts Black Dem Voters Over Being ‘Blindly Loyal And Obedient For No Damn Reason’

June 5, 2025
‘Never Going To Get Them Back’: Dem Party’s Efforts To Win Back Male Voters Are Doomed, Its Own Strategists Say

‘Never Going To Get Them Back’: Dem Party’s Efforts To Win Back Male Voters Are Doomed, Its Own Strategists Say

June 5, 2025
JASON LEWIS: Who’s The Real Racist?

JASON LEWIS: Who’s The Real Racist?

June 5, 2025
Trump Will Slash VOA Staff To Just 18 People, Leaked Letter Reveals

Trump Will Slash VOA Staff To Just 18 People, Leaked Letter Reveals

June 5, 2025
‘Saying Things That Were Not True’: Peter Doocy Reacts To Former Jousting Partner KJP’s Book Announcement

‘Saying Things That Were Not True’: Peter Doocy Reacts To Former Jousting Partner KJP’s Book Announcement

June 5, 2025
US Gun Makers Notch Win Against Mexico In Unanimous SCOTUS Ruling Authored By Liberal Justice

US Gun Makers Notch Win Against Mexico In Unanimous SCOTUS Ruling Authored By Liberal Justice

June 5, 2025
Trump Admin Reportedly Pulls Plug On Key Rockets To Ukraine, Redirects Equipment To US Forces

Trump Admin Reportedly Pulls Plug On Key Rockets To Ukraine, Redirects Equipment To US Forces

June 5, 2025
  • Donald Trump
  • State of the Union
  • Elon Musk
  • Tariffs
  • Congress
  • Faith
  • Immigration
Thursday, June 5, 2025
  • Login
IJR
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls
No Result
View All Result
IJR
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Some Americans Prepare to Go Back to Work as Jobless Claims Spike Over Virus

by Reuters
April 23, 2020 at 1:21 pm
in News
237 15
4
Some Americans Prepare to Go Back to Work as Jobless Claims Spike Over Virus

Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Some businesses prepared on Thursday to reopen in Georgia and a handful of other U.S. states for the first time in a month, as another week of massive unemployment claims highlighted the grim economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic.

From Tennessee and Texas to Ohio and Montana, states around the country have announced plans to reopen over the next two weeks. Their plans have drawn criticism from health experts and some governors who warn that a premature easing of stay-at-home guidelines could trigger a surge in coronavirus cases.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican who has taken a measured approach to reopening his state to adhere to recommended U.S. guidelines, said more cautious steps now would help the economy longer term while protecting people’s health.

A potential second wave of the coronavirus that could collide with annual influenza months from now was also a serious concern, Hogan, who also chairs the National Governors Association, told Politico in an interview on Thursday.

“It’s factored into our thinking and our planning about why we’re doing it gradually and carefully. If we just were to flip the switch and open things back up like a lot of people want… there’s no question it would be worse and flash back in the fall,” he said.

Nearly 850,000 Americans have been infected and 48,000 have died of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a Reuters tally.

In Georgia, Republican Governor Brian Kemp gave the green light to gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys, tattoo and massage parlors to restart on Friday, followed by movie theaters and restaurants next week. South Carolina began to ease restrictions on Monday. Florida opened some of its beaches on Friday night.

Angie Bullman’s suburban Atlanta, Georgia, hair salon will reopen on Friday. She says she and her co-owner husband are fully booked for the weekend.

“We got to get back to work,” Bullman said.

Millions of Americans are feeling her pain. Unemployment figures released on Thursday were a reminder of the devastating economic toll of the unprecedented stay-at-home efforts to stop the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus outbreak.

U.S. Labor Department data showed 26.5 million Americans had sought jobless benefits the last five weeks, meaning all the jobs gained during the longest employment boom in U.S. history have been wiped out by the pandemic’s impact.

MONEY FOR RELIEF

Members of the House of Representatives were due to gather on Thursday to pass a new $484 billion coronavirus relief bill that will bring the total crisis funds approved to nearly $3 trillion.

Republican President Donald Trump has promised to swiftly sign the funds into law.

Trump, who had touted a strong economy as a big reason to re-elect him in November, had been outspoken in supporting an early reopening to get Americans back to work.

But on Wednesday, he shifted gears and broke with Georgia’s governor, saying he strongly disapproved of his plan to reopen some businesses on Friday.

“It’s just too soon. I think it’s too soon,” Trump said at his daily coronavirus briefing.

U.S. Representative Doug Collins, a Georgia Republican and one of Trump’s top supporters in Congress, said the mixed messages were worrying.

“It’s made people nervous. Clear communication is what has to happen. But when you’re telling people to still stay at home but yet we’re going to open certain businesses, that creates a problem in which people are not sure what to do,” Collins told Fox News on Thursday.

Michael Sponsel, 39, owner of Freedom Barber in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, said he planned to keep his shop closed.

“No way is it safe,” Sponsel said. “Not for my barbers, not for my customers. We looked at the numbers and they don’t look good.”

Georgia has recorded more than 21,000 cases and nearly 850 deaths.

A number of polls, including a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week, have shown a bipartisan majority of Americans want to stay at home to protect themselves from the coronavirus, despite the impact to the economy.

Only 13% of Americans polled in a CBS News survey released on Thursday said they would definitely return to public places over the next few weeks if restrictions were lifted right now, no matter what the progress of the outbreak.

Almost half — 48% — said they would not return to public places until they were confident the outbreak was over, according to the poll, conducted by YouGov between April 20-22. Another 39% said “maybe,” depending on whether they believed it was getting safer.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir in San Francisco; Lindsay Dunsmuir, Susan Heavey, Patricia Zengerle, Richard Cowan, Jeff Mason and Lucia Mutikani in Washington; Rich McKay in Atlanta, and Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Writing by Sonya Hepinstall; Editing by Howard Goller)

Tags: Brian KempCoronavirus OutbreakEconomyLarry Hogan
Share196Tweet123
Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is an international news organization.

Advertisements

Top Stories June 10th
Top Stories June 7th
Top Stories June 6th
Top Stories June 3rd
Top Stories May 30th
Top Stories May 29th
Top Stories May 24th
Top Stories May 23rd
Top Stories May 21st
Top Stories May 17th

Join Over 6M Subscribers

We’re organizing an online community to elevate trusted voices on all sides so that you can be fully informed.





IJR

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Trusted Voices On All Sides

  • About Us
  • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy
  • Subscribe to IJR

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Top Stories June 10th Top Stories June 7th Top Stories June 6th Top Stories June 3rd Top Stories May 30th Top Stories May 29th Top Stories May 24th Top Stories May 23rd Top Stories May 21st Top Stories May 17th