Washington (AFP)

The scale of the economic challenges facing Joe Biden was highlighted Thursday by the announcement of a new wave of jobless claims, a further sign of the damage caused by the pandemic on the labor market.

"Last week, for the 44th week in a row, jobless claims were higher than at the worst of the Great Recession" of 2009, commented Heidi Shierholz, commented in a tweet Heidi Shierholz of the Economic policy institute (EPI), a progressive think tank.

From January 10 to 16, 900,000 people registered as unemployed, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department,

This is a little less than the previous week, when many unemployed had re-registered because of the extension of aid voted by Congress.

But that's still four times higher than a year ago and well above the worst week on record during the 2008 financial crisis.

This historically high level for such a long time will be a headache for new President Joe Biden, who thus inherits one of the most devastated job markets in the country's modern history.

When Barack Obama arrived at the White House in January 2009, in the midst of the recession caused by the financial crisis, the unemployment rate was 7.2%, a little higher than the 6.7% in December 2020, but jobless claims were much lower.

- 16 million unemployed -

Nearly 16 million Americans are currently living on unemployment benefits.

This figure includes the 5 million people who touch traditional unemployment, paid for six months at most.

But also all those whose rights have expired, or who are usually not entitled to them - the self-employed in particular - but who touch unemployment thanks to the aid provided for in the recovery plan of March, extended until March.

For many economists, this level of unemployment makes the swift adoption of the $ 1.9 trillion bailout presented by the new president all the more necessary.

This includes emergency aid for the most vulnerable households and small businesses.

The unemployed will then find a little respite, the text providing that their rights will be extended until September 30, and as much as necessary, and that their allowances are increased by $ 400 per week.

The future Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, an economist specializing in this subject, pleaded Tuesday before the Senate for generous spending, believing that in the long term, "the benefits will be much greater than the financial costs".

An investment plan, centered around green energies, will be presented in the coming weeks and should make it possible to create "millions" of "well paid" manufacturing jobs.

- Insolent health of real estate -

If the still very strong activity restrictions linked to the strength of the virus have wiped out sectors - restaurants, hotels, air transport - other parts of the economy remain in shape or continue to recover.

The manufacturing industry thus seems to gradually regain the ground lost in the spring.

This activity has even, in the Philadelphia area (northeast of the United States), started the year with a bang, jumping to its highest level since February 2020, according to the index of the local branch of the Bank. Central American (Fed), released Thursday.

"Overall, the manufacturing industry continues to recover from lost ground and is doing surprisingly well despite the spread of the virus," said Rubeela Farooqi, economist for HFE Snapshot.

It notes, however, that "exports remain exposed to a drop in demand due to lockdowns in Europe as well as supply chain disruptions".

New housing starts rose more than expected in December, confirming the good performance of the sector, according to data from the Commerce Department also released Thursday.

Interest rates are still very low, and teleworking remains the rule for a majority of "white collar workers", who have not returned to the office and moved away from the cities to have more space.

© 2021 AFP