'Worst Ahead': US Treasury Head Expects Further Unemployment Rise

The number of unemployed "will deteriorate before the situation gets better." This was stated by the head of the US Treasury Department Stephen Mnuchin, writes NPR.

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According to Mnuchin, the anti-record for job losses in the country has not yet been broken - the head of the Treasury argues that “the numbers are likely to get worse before they get better.”

Mnuchin's comments followed a May 8 Labor Department report that said the U.S. lost a staggering 20,5 million jobs in April, pushing the unemployment rate to its highest since the Great Depression at 14,7%.

But even this figure does not account for millions of workers who have stopped looking for work or are considered “part-time”.

When asked by Fox News lead Chris Wallace about whether the country's unemployment rate was really close to 25%, Mnuchin replied, “Could have been.”

"It's not the fault of American businesses, it's not the fault of American workers, it's a result of the virus," Mnuchin said. "We're going to have a very, very bad second quarter."

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In late April, Mnuchin's forecasts were more optimistic, telling Wallace that the economy would reopen in June and "get back to normal" in the summer.

On May 10, the head of the US Treasury Department said the economy was in for a "better third quarter" and then a "better fourth quarter and next year will be great."

According to Mnuchin, the Trump administration is considering additional incentive measures, including payroll tax cuts.

“We're not going to do something just to bail out states that have been poorly run,” Mnuchin added.

At the same time, he noted that the White House will wait "a few weeks" before considering another bill to provide assistance in connection with the pandemic.

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