Coronavirus’ economic impact: How the US is faring

With the entire world staring at an economic recession with coronavirus lockdown, the question arises if the United States — the world’s richest country and biggest economy — will be able to maintain that position for long.

The country is struggling — with more than 80,000 cases, the highest number in the world.

It’s said the United States has been unable to tackle this public health crisis. And many have blamed President Donald Trump for this.

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The entire economy has come to a halt. Even the government agencies are reporting massive layoffs.

More than 3 million people have filed new claims for unemployment insurance in this month alone — the highest in the American history.

To this end, Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at bankrate.com, says, “Well, this is truly unprecedented and it represents the unprecedented nature of what we're going through right now. During the financial crisis and great recession, the highest or maximum number of new claims for unemployment benefits we saw was approaching, let's say, the 7,00,000 mark. So, we've done several times over that record number."

An optician and stylist who was recently laid off from her job, Ali Nelson says, “I am kind of hoping, actually, that this might act as a reset in a lot of ways, a reset in our economy to make it more sustainable for everybody. You know prices keep going up while salaries don't. And, you know, this is a proof that people are living paycheck to paycheck and that something like this happens and people aren't prepared for it. You know, you can't be.”

In order to combat this, the US Senate has cleared $2-trillion bailout package this week. It will put $1,200 directly in the hands of American adults.

The relief package also includes a $500 billion lending programme for businesses, cities and states.

Trump has also assured the citizens of better days ahead. He said, “We're taking care of our people. This is not their fault. What happened? And we're taking care. We're starting off by sending them very big checks. I think for a family of four, it's about three thousand dollars and we're taking care of our people were taking care of our workers."

The US could face even tougher days ahead, and only time and Trump will tell what’s in store for them.