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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. economy moved further into recession as 1.3 million more Americans joined the jobless ranks this week, with a 12.4% unemployment rate nationally. As over 18 million workers continue to collect unemployment benefits, numerous members of Congress clashed over extending expanded federal unemployment insurance that expires at the end of July. The news also comes on the heels of newly-released Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) data showing billions of taxpayer dollars funneled to the wealthy and well-connected.

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While around 40% of families are visiting food banks for the first time, the Trump administration lives in another dimension where the economy is thriving and this global crisis has receded. The administration’s misplaced priorities have helped K Street and big companies, but it has continued to leave families and small businesses struggling.”

Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US

This week, government watchdog Accountable.US called on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) inspector general to open an investigation into the irregularities in the PPP data release. These inconsistencies further the need for a fairer and more transparent system for getting relief to small businesses that need it most. As the data continues to reveal, large, publicly-traded companies, including those connected to members of Congress and Trump, got tens of millions they didn’t need while an estimated 40% of Black-owned small businesses may never recover.

The Trump Recession Only Getting Worse for Millions of Americans 

  • NBC News, 7/7: Millions of Americans going hungry as pandemic erodes incomes and destroys communities. A study from Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Studies found that the pandemic roughly doubled food insecurity in the United States.
  • NBC News, 7/7: Here are some of the billionaires who got PPP loans while small businesses went bankrupt.
  • Fortune, 7/6: But the economic impacts of the pandemic are still hitting communities of color harder than white Americans: The jobless rate among white workers is 10.1%, compared with 13.8% for Asian workers, and 14.5% for Hispanic workers. The jobless rate is highest among Black workers at 15.4%.
  • ProPublica, 7/6: Businesses tied to President Donald Trump’s family and associates stand to receive as much as $21 million in government loans designed to shore up payroll expenses for companies struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to federal data released Monday.
  • Wall Street Journal, 7/6: Congress designed the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses weather fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but the program’s $521 billion in loans also went to well-heeled and politically connected firms across the economy, including law offices, charities, restaurant chains and wealth managers.

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