Signs of improvement in the jobs market there were 4.8 million jobs added last month. That’s the biggest increase on record, and the unemployment rate dropped to 11.1%. The June employment survey was taken in mid-month before new coronavirus outbreaks and shutdowns in several states. This underlying economy really has strength, and people want to get back to work that 4.8 number coming on the heels of what we saw last month is huge.
The reading from last week on people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time shows there were 1.4 million new claims. The number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits is 19 million.
However, we can see that Apple is closing some of its reopened locations because of coronavirus outbreaks in parts of the US. Apple has already closed 16 locations in Florida, Mississippi, Texas, and Utah, and now it’s closing another 30 locations. Half of the additional stores to be closed are in California. The others are in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, and Oklahoma.
And McDonald’s has decided to hold off on opening additional dining rooms ahead of the holiday weekend. The change says it will wait three weeks before any new restaurants offer dining service. It’s continuing to offer drive-through takeout and delivery McDonald’s started its limited dining service in May at about 2200 of its 14 000 US restaurants. Locations that have already opened dining rooms will keep them open if local governments allow it.
What about support from the government? Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has confirmed they are coming up with more money and more stimulus in an election year. However, this time they’re going to delay it. What we are hearing from sources working with the White House, these lobbyists are saying that the next round of stimulus could come as late as September.
Now, why is that? There’s a couple of reasons going on. Number one is that the economy is improving, although there are some suggestions that it may peter out as coronavirus spikes hit certain states. But the economy is improving as we saw today. And a lot some of the money that was earmarked for stimulus, particularly the small business, has not been spent yet. Those small business loans that were provided, it’s barely touched.
Also, we’d be surprised if they just start handing checks to individuals as they did in the first rounds. This is going to be much more like you may get an extension of unemployment benefits, but also there’s going to be some incentives to return to work. You’ll get some money if you return to work or maybe a tax break.