In addition to the devastating loss of life the US has been suffering, the American public has also been struggling to keep hold of their jobs as many employers were forced to shut down completely.Some states, like Georgia and Florida, have begun to ease restrictions in a bid to restart their economies while hundreds of protesters across the country have also urged their Governors to reopen businesses despite the high risk to life.According to the latest reports from the Bureau of Labour Statistics, the unemployment rate across the US shot up from 4.4 percent before the outbreak began to spread in the US to 14.7 percent as of May 8.Mr Trump has remained adamant most of the job losses are temporary and the end of the lockdown will result in a hiring drive.White House economic adviser Larry Ludlow told the press earlier on Friday: "I don’t want to give anyone a false sense of anything. said the aide, who discussed the talks on condition of anonymity.
"But with the presidential elections looming in November 2020, Mr Trump's response to the coronavirus and the subsequent spike in the unemployment rate could impact the President's chances of re-election.A YouGov/Economist poll of 1,500 US voters conducted between May 3-5 showed the Democratic candidate, former Vice-President Joe Biden, widened his lead over the incumbent of at least four points.But political strategists in the US have warned Mr Biden he has to expand his online presence if he wants to further increase his chances of a victory.Writing in the New York Times, David Axelrod and David Plouffe, who both served as top campaign strategists to Barak Obama, insisted that “online speeches from his basement won’t cut it.”They added: “For Mr Biden, the challenge is to transform a campaign that lagged behind many of his Democratic competitors during the primary in its use of digital media and timely, state-of-the-art communications techniques.” See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper,
More than 20,000 members of the U.S. military have contracted the virus, and the infection rate has soared recently. DONALD Trump could see his hopes of re-election this November go up in smoke as economists warn the crippling unemployment rate the coronavirus pandemic … McConnell was forced to denounce a piece of his own plan, which he initially appeared unaware of when asked about it Monday, to spend $1.75 billion on a new FBI building at Trump's request.On Wednesday, Trump floated a short-term extension of jobless aid that Underscoring his difficult negotiating position, McConnell said Wednesday on "PBS NewsHour" that about 20 Republican senators believe Congress has "already done enough" and don't want to spend more money.By Thursday, as senators were planning to leave for the weekend, McConnell resorted to advancing an empty "shell" bill to kick off the process of debating.