Skip to main content

Mnuchin warns senators lack of action could result in 20% unemployment rate, source says

Washington (CNN)Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned Republican senators Tuesday morning that without action the coronavirus pandemic could drive up US unemployment to 20%, a Republican Senate source told CNN.
Mnuchin's comments came as he urged Republican senators to act on economic stimulus measures totaling $1 trillion designed to avert that kind of worst case scenario.
Asked for comment, Treasury Department spokesperson Monica Crowley said in a statement, "During the meeting with Senate Republicans today, Secretary Mnuchin used several mathematical examples for illustrative purposes, but he never implied this would be the case."
    A Treasury Department official added that Mnuchin "used some mathematical examples to illustrate potential risk if there were no intervention, but because they are doing the right things and proposing additional action, that would not be the case."
    In the same meeting, Mnuchin also said he is concerned the economic ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic could be worse than the 2008 financial crisis, the source said.
    Mnuchin's comments, first reported by Bloomberg News, come amid a rising sense of urgency at the White House and on Capitol Hill to confront the increasingly serious threat of the coronavirus pandemic -- on both the public health and economic fronts.
    A 20% unemployment rate would be double the unemployment rate during the Great Recession and the highest in the US since the Great Depression. A 20% unemployment rate would leave more than 32 million Americans out of a job based on the current US labor force.
    Mnuchin pitched Republican senators on Tuesday on a $1 trillion economic stimulus package, which would include a first wave of checks to Americans that would cost $250 billion, a separate source familiar with the matter told CNN.
    The proposal comes on the heels of two major pieces of legislation that lawmakers have pushed to address the growing crisis -- and all told amounts to the most far-reaching economic rescue packages since the financial crisis in 2008.
      "It is a big number," Mnuchin told reporters of the $1 trillion price tag. "This is a very unique situation in this economy."
      This story has been updated with comments from the Treasury Department.

      Comments

      Post a Comment

      Popular posts from this blog

      European Union will close its borders to all non-essential travel to fight coronavirus

      Madrid (ITNTV) The European Union will close its borders to all non-essential travel as it attempts to contain the  ongoing spread of the coronavirus  on the continent. "The less travel, the more we can contain the virus," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday following a video conference between G7 leaders. She appeared confident that the European Council would sign off on the restriction in a Tuesday vote. The bloc's member states imposed aggressive measures on Monday,  days after the  World Health Organization (WHO) said Europe was at the epicenter of the pandemic. French President Emmanuel Macron declared "war" on the virus during a national address on Monday, banning all social events across the country -- including family gatherings. Macron said those who have gathered in public places in recent days have not been respecting previous measures to limit the outbreak's spread in France, which as of Monday had 5,380 con...
      Post a Comment
      Read more

      Kennedy granddaughter, great-grandson missing in Chesapeake Bay

      (ITNTV) - The granddaughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy and her young son were missing on Friday after drifting out into the Chesapeake Bay on a canoe, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said. An intensive search continued for Maeve Fahey Townsend, and her son Gideon, Hogan said. Maeve Townsend is the daughter of former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated while a candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1968. “I reached out to and spoke with Lieutenant Governor Townsend this morning and on behalf of the people of Maryland I expressed our most heartfelt sympathies,” Hogan said in a briefing posted online. The Anne Arundel County Fire Department, one of the agencies searching for Townsend and her son, said it had received a call on Thursday at about 4:30 p.m. local time, reporting that two people in a small canoe or kayak were drifting into Chesapeake Bay. Rescuers w...
      Post a Comment
      Read more

      US uses encrypted app to connect with Iranians as coronavirus sweeps their country

      Washington (ITNTV) The State Department is using social media to encourage Iranians to share information with the Trump administration -- both on an encrypted tip line and through an online survey -- about the  coronavirus pandemic  that is devastating the country. "This is Iran's Chernobyl," said one administration official of the outbreak, who described social media portals as a tool to bypass the Iranian regime and connect to the country's people. The US began encouraging Iranians to use the encrypted messaging app last year, when Iranian demonstrators took to the streets and US officials wanted to learn more about the regime's bloody crackdown. Now, with Covid-19 devastating Iran, the tip line has been reinvigorated, administration officials told CNN. This time, the goal is to collect information from Iranians, find ways to share that information when it is determined to be accurate and leverage the coronavirus in an effort to fortify a relationship ...
      Post a Comment
      Read more