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Economy

Weekly Unemployment Claims Surpass Great Recession Peak By Ten-Fold

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There were 6.6 million Americans who filed for unemployment insurance during the week of April 4 which surpassed the Great Recession peak by ten-fold.

According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the number of “initial weekly claims” peaked at 665,000 filings during the Great Recession.

“Over the past three weeks, 16.8 million initial UI claims were filed- over 10% of the 159 million US workers in Feb 2020. Since not all workers who lost their jobs have filed for UI, this measure likely understates job losses since March 15,” they wrote in a tweet.

They continued, “Insured employment, which measures approved initial UI claims, increased from $3.1 million to 7.5 million in the week ending March 28- surpassing the Great Recession peak of 6.6 million to become the highest level on record.”

Click here to read the recent unemployment report.

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Economy

White House announced $6 billion student loan forgiveness for 78,000 public service workers

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United States Congress

The White House recently announced a $6 billion loan forgiveness program. Nurses, teachers and firefighters are among the 78,000 public service workers who will qualify. Fox Business reports:

Due to fixes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, workers that never received forgiveness are now having their debts partially forgiven or canceled. Only about 7,000 public service borrowers received forgiveness prior to the Biden Administration, now that total hovers closer to 870,000, the announcement said.

“Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve achieved for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years,” the announcement stated. “This includes: providing the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade to help families who earn less than roughly $60,000 a year; fixing Income-Driven Repayment plans so borrowers in repayment for years get the relief they earned; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history – the SAVE plan.”

However, there is concern over fairness that older generations are still paying off student loans and could risk losing Social Security. A group of representatives wrote a letter to Congress, hoping to address the issue of seniors still paying down student loans. Currently, under the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), the government can collect funds, such as tax refunds and Social Security, to pay outstanding student loan balances, reports Fox Business.

“Under the TOP, the federal government can withhold up to 15 percent of monthly Social Security or disability benefits for defaulted student loans,” the lawmakers explained in their letter.

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