Written by: Amanda Angulo
The new Delta COVID-19 variant has been spiking. As a result, it is damaging our employment ratings and consumer confidence now that millions of Americans are about to lose their unemployment benefits.
Due to decreasing consumer spending, many entertainment and hospitality industries that survive on in-person activities are suffering. Biden and his administration are now facing more evidence that the new surge is detrimental to the economy and will be seen especially when the government releases the August job reports on Friday. Economists believe that the report will include around 500,000-600,000 added jobs, which is a little more than half of the amounts in June and July.
Biden has been getting kicked around due to his terrible decision-making in Afghanistan and COVID-19. Now Biden is neglecting the economy. So far, about 47% of the voters have approved the way he has been handling the economy, but that is below half of the voters. This percentage was also a 5% drop since the spring, indicating that voters are starting to realize Biden’s terrible job as President.
“Delta implies a bumpy road ahead until the public decides that it needs to put the public health crisis behind it — and that means vaccinations,” stated the chief economist at consulting firm RSM, advising middle-market companies, Joseph Brusuelas. “It’s now in the hands of the public, not the policymakers.”
While many businesses’ employment rates dropped by the single digits, larger industries have been taking the most damage. The entertainment business had employment growth decline by 35%, and hospitality fell by 20%.
Additionally, July saw consumer spending slowing down due to more people no longer going to restaurants. Specifically, the consumer sentiment fell over 13% last month to reflect “the least favorable economic prospects in more than a decade,” according to the University of Michigan’ ‘s Consumer Sentiment Index.
Meanwhile, Biden and his administration seem to be downplaying the concerns of the economy. Instead, they are focusing on the infrastructure plan and getting it through Congress without indicating that the economy is the issue. Biden is simply ignoring another problem. As usual, he will not deal with this issue until it blows up right in his face, or rather, right in America’s face, as the citizens are the actual victims of his incompetence.
Overall, about 7.5 million workers will be taken off of unemployment benefits on Sept. 6th, which can cause an enormous impact on the economy. Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, has said, “this is a five-alarm fire that we’re treating as if nothing were wrong.”
Photo from: MANDEL NGAN/AFP
