Want Your Stimulus Money Faster? You Only Have 1 Day Left to Do This

Roughly three months ago, it was business as usual for the U.S. economy. Today, though, the U.S. economy and labor market are shells of what they once were due to the coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19) pandemic. The unemployment rate has rocketed higher to 14.7% -- a level not seen since the Great Depression -- with over 33 million people filing initial unemployment benefit claims within the past seven weeks.

Knowing full well what sort of havoc the shutdown of nonessential businesses would wreak on the economy and labor market, lawmakers passed and the president signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law on March 27. This $2.2 trillion stimulus package is the largest relief bill in history, and it ultimately provided funding for hospitals, small business loans, distressed industries, and an expansion of the unemployment benefits program.

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