US dole claims hit a record 3m in a week
DONALD Trump’s hand at a virtual meeting of G20 leaders was weakened yesterday when a record three million US citizens filed for unemployment due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The US president was forced on to the back foot after the dire numbers, which were for just last week, were four times the previous 1982 record.
Mr Trump normally uses his strong economy to burnish his confidence at the meeting of world leaders. But this time he was compromised as lockdowns caused by the pandemic brought the American financial system to a standstill.
China and the US have been sniping at each other over the outbreak, with America determined to label the pandemic ‘the Wuhan virus,’ leaving few in doubt as to who Washington blames.
In contrast to the US figures, Beijing is beginning to restart its economy, having almost eradicated the virus in Wuhan, where it was first detected.
The US Labour Department reported that US unemployment claims surged to 3.3million last week, an increase of 3million on the previous week.
The number smashed the Great Recession record of 665,000 in one week in March 2009 and the all-time high of 695,000 in October 1982 by a factor of more than four. The statistics were released hours before yesterday’s emergency meeting of the G20, hosted by Saudi Arabia and aimed at a coordinated global response to the pandemic.
China and the US were set to put aside their sniping for the greater good.
A meeting of the G7 foreign ministers on Wednesday failed to produce an agreed statement after other countries baulked at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s insistence on using the term ‘Wuhan virus’. Mr Pompeo then accused China of delaying the sharing of information about the virus before Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, yesterday joined the attacks.
Writing in The Times, Mr Johnson said: ‘“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its boots on”. That statement, often attributed to Mark Twain, is especially true in the 21st century. In today’s age of social media it has unfortunately become normal to see false information reach a broad audience instantaneously. It is bad enough when conspiracy cranks spread dangerous misinformation. It is far worse when malign misinformation is spread by government officials. That is what China has been doing, giving out false accusations about the origin and spread of the coronavirus.’
One shocked European diplomat told CNN: ‘What the State Department has suggested is a red line. You cannot agree with this branding of this virus and trying to communicate this’.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the comments from Mr Pompeo were to ‘stigmatize China and discredit China’s efforts in an attempt to divert attention and shift responsibilities’. He told a press conference yesterday, before the G20, that Mr Pompeo ‘has a sinister motive’.
A $2trillion economic stimulus package has been passed by the US Senate and is expected to clear the House of Representatives.
‘Malign information spread by officials’