Wilmington (United States) (AFP)

After predicting a "gloomy" winter, Joe Biden called on Friday for help "now" to Americans facing a "bad" job market health record in November, due to the resurgence of the pandemic of Covid-19.

"If we do not act now, the future will be very bleak," warned the president-elect speaking from his stronghold in Wilmington, Delaware, while the US economy has created only 245,000 jobs last month, more than half as much as in October.

Time is running out as many aid to the unemployed and families expire on December 26.

Earlier, the Democrat had urged Congress and incumbent Republican President Donald Trump to strike a deal "for the American people" and said he was "encouraged by the recent efforts" of the two parties working towards a aid package of some 900 billion dollars.

He then suggested that both parties include a check for $ 1,200 for the Americans, as was the case in the spring.

The Democrat expressed confidence in the possibility of a deal, saying there were "a sufficient number of Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate ... to put together an aid package. serious".

According to him, "they are on the verge of being able to come up with a package that meets immediate basic needs."

To convince the Democrats potentially resistant to this new proposal, the future president suggested that this aid, which will undoubtedly be less ambitious than what the party demanded, would be followed by new negotiations upon his arrival at the White House for a program of broader support for the whole economy.

“It's just a down payment,” he argued.

For her part, the Democratic President of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi had mentioned earlier "a momentum", evoking a possible vote by Christmas.

She had spoken the day before with the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, who seems on the same line.

This deadline means that a proposal will have to be formalized at the beginning of next week.

In November, the unemployment rate fell to 6.7%.

Admittedly, the job market continued to recover after its plummet in the spring, but this figure should be put into perspective since it does not include people who have left the labor market or who are not actively looking for work.

Joe Biden lamented that many people have "lost hope of finding a job".

- Women quit their jobs -

For example, female unemployment is only 6.1%, many women having left the statistics after having given up working for lack of being able to look after their children whose schools remain closed.

"In November, notable job gains took place in transportation and warehousing, professional and business services and health care," the Labor Department said.

This report, the first since Joe Biden was elected, does not accurately reflect the November job market situation, however, as data has been compiled until halfway through the month.

Therefore, it does not take into account either the tightening of measures taken later in the month to stem the new wave of Covid-19 infections, or Thanksgiving week which reduced the number of jobless registrations on the last day. last week.

The Thanksgiving holiday could also have a positive impact on temporary employment in the transport sector to deliver parcels resulting from the massive sales on the internet during Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday.

- "Dark winter" -

Perhaps most importantly, the economy has not destroyed jobs as some economists feared.

But employment is likely to get worse in the coming months.

The imminent arrival of vaccines is good news, but no one knows what the short-term economic impact of vaccination will be, warned the President of the American Central Bank, Jerome Powell this week.

Hence the pressure from the future administration to vote in the coming days of aid for the most vulnerable Americans and small businesses.

This idea is gaining ground: "I think we are very close to an agreement," Donald Trump himself said Thursday.

"I will support him".

Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi are considering including the aid package in a budget deal being negotiated in parallel.

This must be voted on before December 11 if they want to avoid the drying up of public finances ("shutdown").

© 2020 AFP