Clyburn Comments on June Jobs Report, Slow Recovery
(Washington, D.C., July 2, 2020)—Today, Rep. James E. Clyburn, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, made the following statement addressing the June jobs report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
"Unfortunately, the number of Americans who went back to work in June does not come anywhere close to making up for the catastrophic job losses in the initial months of the pandemic. What's more, this report does not reflect the recent surge in coronavirus infections across the country. Nearly 20 states have walked back plans to reopen because they lacked the testing, tracing, isolation, and treatment necessary to reopen safely. We will not experience sustained economic growth until the virus is contained."
"Containing the virus will require a comprehensive national plan developed and implemented by the federal government. Given the urgent need for such a plan, I was dismayed yesterday to hear President Trump declare that the economy is recovering ‘in a very strong fashion with a "V"' and predict that the coronavirus pandemic is ‘going to sort of just disappear, I hope.'"
"The White House needs to abandon such delusions, be straight with the American people about the scale of the pandemic's damage, and work with Congress to protect American lives and livelihoods."
Yesterday, Chairman Clyburn was joined by a panel of economists, including Professor Jason Furman, Professor William E. Spriggs, and Wendy Edelberg, to discuss the June jobs report and the severity and expected duration of the jobs crisis. Professors Furman and Spriggs testified before the Select Subcommittee on June 18, 2020 that expanded federal benefits have contributed to the economic rebound and are not the cause of the country's sky-high unemployment rates.
Also yesterday, Chairman Clyburn sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Vice Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Tyler Goodspeed, and Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought demanding documents on the Trump Administration's refusal to carry out economic projections and urging the Administration to reverse its decision to withhold these projections from Congress.
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