August & Policy Update - August 17, 2020

SPEAKER CALLS HOUSE BACK EARLY FROM RECESS

WASHINGTON UPDATE

Coronavirus Bill Stimulus

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the House to return to session “later this week” to vote on House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney’s “Delivering for America Act,” which prevents the Postal Service from ‘implementing any changes to operations or levels of service it had in place on January 1, 2020.” This comes as the USPS told 46 states and the District of Columbia that it could not deliver ballots in time for the November 3 election following organizational changes to operations and services implemented by newly appointed Postmaster Louis DeJoy.  The House may also vote on an economic package, as President Trump has indicated he is willing to strike a deal to give $25 billion to the USPS if Democrats come back to the table with the tax cuts that he wants for American workers, and the relief he wants for those who are jobless and still looking for work.

Initial Jobless Claims

In the week ending August 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 963,000, a decrease of 228,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 5,000 from 1,186,000 to 1,191,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,252,750, a decrease of 86,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,250 from 1,337,750 to 1,339,000. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 10.6 percent for the week ending August 1, a decrease of 0.4 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate.

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Click here to read the entire August 17 weekly legislative update.