Census Data: About A Third of Americans Expect Job Losses, Less Pay Or Evictions 

COVID Job Loss

Data from the Census Bureau’s latest survey indicates that about a third of Americans are anticipating further job loss, pay cuts and evictions due to COVID-19’s economic fallout.

The third phase of the experimental Household Pulse Survey was released by the Census Bureau on Wednesday (Dec. 2) in collaboration with several federal agencies. The survey aims to collect data and glean insights about American households amid the global pandemic. Data will be disseminated in near-real-time to assist government agencies with recovery planning.

The survey, which was conducted Nov. 11-23, found that about one-third of respondents said they anticipated a household member would lose a job, have their hours reduced or experience a cut in pay. Further, 33 percent said that within 60 days, they would likely face foreclosure or eviction.

Almost 35 percent indicated that they had a hard time covering basic expenses, and about 12 percent said their households don’t have enough food to eat. As of late October and early November, some 5.7 million have said that they often didn’t have enough to eat.

The pandemic’s growing second wave of infections has slowed the country’s economic recovery. However, a $908 billion bipartisan relief package has been endorsed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York), The Hill reported. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday (Dec. 1) that he would not support the plan and introduced a $500 billion alternative.

Recovery looked promising in June, when the U.S. economy gained a reported 2.5 million jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent from 14.7 percent. The reversal triggered a surge in stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average going up more than 3 percent. But despite that good news, pessimism persisted throughout June, with almost 50 percent of laid-off employees expecting that their jobs would not return.

Although the original $600 weekly pandemic unemployment program ended on July 31, a week later, a $300 weekly boost was supported by 23 states, funded by the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund.