Washington (AFP)

The surge in contaminations in the United States has raised unemployment for the first time since the end of March, and Congress is trying to find common ground on extending crucial aid for the unemployed, which will end in a week.

Thousands of shops and restaurants have once again had to close their doors in the country, and send home their newly rehired employees, due to an explosion in the number of cases of Covid-19 in the South and West.

As a result, the number of newly unemployed has increased again, for the first time since the start of its slow decline in early April. Just over 1.4 million applications were filed between July 12 and July 18, up from 1.307 million the week before.

And "a second increase should follow next week, before demands do not settle again", anticipates Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

The last week of March still holds the historic record: 6.6 million new unemployed.

In total, just over 16 million Americans were registered as unemployed in early July, and nearly 32 million including all those who are compensated because their self-employment has been reduced to nothing with the pandemic.

- End of help -

"The risk of repeated business closures is that temporary job losses become permanent. This could lead to a slower (economic) recovery," warns Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics.

However, the White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow assured Thursday on the Fox News channel that he saw "no break in the downward trend in unemployment" started since April.

For the unemployed, the arrival of August marks above all the end of crucial aid put in place since April, as part of the American recovery plan of the Trump administration and Congress in the face of the pandemic.

They were paid an additional $ 600 per week, which often allowed them to earn more than their old salary. The amount of unemployment, which depends on each state, is normally between 235 and 823 dollars per week, and paid for three to six months.

This aid has enabled millions of households to avoid falling into poverty. But for his opponents, it is an obstacle to returning to work.

Extending it is "a priority" for the Trump administration, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin assured Thursday, interviewed on CNBC.

On the other hand, exit the generous sum paid today, the amount should increase at the beginning of August to "approximately 70%" of the salary received before unemployment: "we are not going to pay more to stay at home than to work", a he declared.

But the Democratic opposition wants the measure to be extended as is at least until next year.

- "Families are suffering" -

Congressmen are negotiating a new aid plan that should also include additional loans for the small and medium-sized businesses most affected and funds to allow schools to reopen. A new check for $ 1,200 could also be sent to households as early as August, according to Bloomberg.

The Secretary of the Treasury, on the other hand, has ruled out the solution of a reduction in social charges for employers, however popular with Donald Trump.

This is another setback for the president, who is running for a second term in the White House, and was counting on a sharp recovery in the economy to revive his campaign.

Long accused of denial of the pandemic, President Donald Trump changed his tone on Tuesday, admitting a recent "disturbing increase in cases", and even recommending the wearing of a mask, after having so far defended individual "freedom" in matter.

"The stock market has largely recovered from its losses. (...) But families are suffering again without having committed any fault. We must not leave them aside", pleaded Thursday the Democrat Maxine Waters, President of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, particularly concerned about the fate of "minority communities".

Nearly four million people have been officially infected with Covid-19 in the United States, where nearly a quarter of the total number of deaths worldwide from the disease have been recorded, according to the report from Johns University Hopkins, who references.

© 2020 AFP