Meadows: Nowhere close to deal on stimulus talks

White House Chief of Staff Meadows has said that they are nowhere close to deal on stimulus talks and that he expects extra unemployment benefits to expire.

The proposed virus aid package would be the fifth, following the $2.2 trillion (€1.9 trillion) bill passed in March, the largest US intervention of its kind.

Despite flickers of an economic upswing as states eased stay-at-home orders in May and June, the jobless rate remained at double digits, higher than it ever was in the GFC.

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Powell said the central bank will sustain historic monetary policy until it’s confident the economy has navigated through the Covid-19 pullback.

“We are committed to using our full range of tools to support the economy in this challenging time,” Powell said. “We have held our policy rate near zero since mid-March and have stated that we will keep it there until we are confident the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve our maximum employment and price stability goals.”