ECONOMY

An employee sets a table for pickup orders at a restaurant in Arlington, Va. Even as states are moving to reopen their economies, tens of millions are out of work.

Federal Reserve Vows To Help Economy Weather The Pandemic Recession

4:15pm June 10, 2020

by Scott Horsley

The Fed leaves interest rates near zero as expected, and promises to use all of its tools to support the economy. Officials project unemployment above 9% at the end of this year.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference in Washington on March 3. Companies can borrow money from the Fed under its new lending programs, but the central bank's effort to help the economy has had lopsided results.

Economy

The Fed Helped Companies Borrow Money. Some Laid Off Thousands Anyway

3:50pm June 10, 2020

by Jim Zarroli

Companies can borrow money from the Federal Reserve under its new lending programs. It's been good for the stock market, but the central bank's effort to help the economy has had lopsided results.

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The clergyman and civil rights leader Martin Luther KIng (3rd from left) and other black and white civil right leaders march 28 August 1963 on the Mall in Washington DC during the "March on Washington".

What A 1968 Report Tells Us About The Persistence Of Racial Inequality

6:27pm June 09, 2020

by Greg Rosalsky

Despite political and social progress, African Americans still lag far behind economically.

U.S. Federal Reserve's Help Comes With No Strings Attached

4:19pm June 09, 2020

by Jim Zarroli

The Federal Reserve has taken unprecedented actions to prop up the economy by flooding the U.S. with trillions of dollars. But that does not necessarily mean the money is going to the right places.

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Economy

Economists Warn It Is Too Soon To Call Off Federal Aid

4:19pm June 09, 2020

by Scott Horsley

A better-than-expected jobs report may have lawmakers feeling less urgency about the need for another round of the pandemic relief. But economists say it is too soon to pull the plug on federal help.

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Liz McLemore spent weeks trying to enroll in a health plan after being laid off and losing her job-based coverage. "You just got to fight through," she says.

She Lost Her Job And Health Insurance And Had To Fight To Get A New Plan

3:14pm June 09, 2020

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Like millions of others, Liz McLemore always got her health insurance coverage through her job. In April, she suddenly had to figure out how to find coverage in the middle of a pandemic.

Economy

U.S. Recession Began In February, National Bureau Of Economic Research Says

6:44am June 09, 2020

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution, about the U.S. being in a recession, and how long it's expected to last.

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Economists Announce The U.S. Economy Is Officially In A Recession

6:01pm June 08, 2020

by Scott Horsley

The National Bureau of Economic Research has announced Monday the U.S. economy is officially in a recession. Economists said the recession is unusual, but they hope it could end quickly.

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Boxes of food are loaded on vehicles last month at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. The country has officially entered a recession amid the pandemic, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday.

It's Official: U.S. Economy Is In A Recession

2:32pm June 08, 2020

by Scott Horsley

The committee tasked with marking U.S. business cycles says the economy peaked in February and has since been in a recession triggered by the pandemic. But it says the recession could be short-lived.

A man copies phone numbers posted on the locked doors of a Georgia Department of Labor office in in Norcross, Ga. Millennials are facing the second — or even third — economic downturn of their adult lives.

Economy

Here We Go Again: Millennials Are Staring At Yet Another Recession

1:49pm June 08, 2020

by Danielle Kurtzleben

The coronavirus recession is the second — or even third — economic downturn of millennials' adult lives. That could mean reduced wages for life.