Even though the unemployment

rate has fallen sharply since its spring peak, Bovino points out that joblessness remains high and the improvement seems fragile. “While the U.S. economy is no longer teetering into depression territory, the still-high unemployment rate says the U.S. remains mired in a severely weakened recovery and we still face a 30 to 35 % chance of falling back into recession," she says. “The harsh reality is the next president has his work cut out for him.”

Bovino believes that the next president's first priority should be to create jobs, which would require spending a lot of money. To get the biggest bang for the buck, she recommends an ambitious effort to fix or replace America's dilapidated bridges, tunnels, highways and airports." Serious investment in infrastructure that meets the magnitude of this crisis is the biggest light at the end of the tunnel,” she says. “An investment of $2.1 trillion would create more than 2.3 million jobs by 2024, increase per-capita income by $2,400 and add $5.7 trillion to GDP over the next ten years. That would be 10 times the recession losses. It’s not spending, it’s a rock-solid investment in our country and our workforce."