For more than two months now, the coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19) has completely turned the American economy and labor market on its head. We've witnessed the end of the longest economic expansion in history in the U.S. (dating back 160 years) and seen more than 33 million Americans file for initial unemployment benefits in a seven-week stretch. By the time the full effects of the coronavirus are felt, a quarter of all Americans who want jobs may be out of work.
Knowing full well the sort of tumult that the shutdown of nonessential businesses would create, lawmakers on Capitol Hill passed and President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27. At $2.2 trillion, it was the largest relief bill ever signed into law.
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