Long after COVID first caused the economy to collapse in early 2020, the pandemic still persists. Even though the rate of positive cases from the Delta variant has decreased, President Biden has intensified his campaign to promote vaccinations.
The overall economy has improved over its pre-pandemic state. Still, some people haven’t caught up due to shortages and inflation.
Even though there are plenty of jobs in some sectors, the unemployment rate is higher than it was before the pandemic.
Although the federal unemployment benefit expired in early September, millions of people continue to struggle with a lack of food and unpaid bills.
There should be a fourth stimulus check. Several states, including California, have acknowledged the need for additional assistance and have made additional payments.
However, in 2021, will the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) distribute another stimulus check?
That decision is pending. But many indicators point in the right direction.
The purpose of the relief payments was to lessen COVID’s financial impact while also assisting the economy.
Beginning in March, the American Rescue Plan began making the third round of relief payments (ARP).
About 169 million people received up to $1,400 each over the ensuing months. That was almost the entire $422 billion set aside.
The $600 payments from January, which came nine months after the $1,200 payments from the beginning of the pandemic, were closely followed by the ARP checks.
Many people who didn’t actually need the money were helped, but they also appear to have worked.
According to the most recent estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2021. (Problems with the supply chain may have prevented faster growth.)
That represents a significant slowdown from the ferocious pace of the second quarter’s growth of 6.7 per cent.
The rest of the year will see continued, albeit slower, growth, according to the Conference Board.
Gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of economic activity across the U.S., has surpassed levels from before the pandemic. That broad metric indicates that the economy has fully recovered.
Large swaths of the workforce have experienced little financial hardship as a result of the pandemic.
Many tasks that can be easily completed at a desk in an office can also be done at a desk at home.
In addition, with three stimulus checks and fewer places to spend during the majority of the pandemic, many Americans saved more than they otherwise might have.
Up until September 2021, the personal saving rate remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, peaking at 33.7 per cent in April 2020.
It finally decreased to 7.5 per cent in September, which is lower than the 8.3 per cent from February 2020, the month before the pandemic began.
Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, stated on Face the Nation in June that his customers had not yet spent 65–70% of their most recent two stimulus checks.
The additional savings and pent-up demand most likely contributed to the recovery of the overall economy.
Due to low-interest rates and homebound individuals realizing the limitations of their living conditions, the housing market has also experienced a boom.
According to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors, the median sales price for existing homes nationwide reached $352,800 in September, an increase of 13.3% from September 2020.
Homes priced higher than the median contributed significantly to that increase. The housing supply fell in August and was down 13% compared to the previous year.
Additionally, 86 per cent of the homes that sold in September had only been listed for sale for a few weeks.
The stock market is doing well as well. The Dow Jones is still significantly higher than it was at this time last year, despite a few rocky weeks.
It has frequently come close to records. Friday morning’s market close was 35,935 as opposed to 26,925 at the same time last year.
There are still issues with the Delta variant and low vaccination rates in some regions of the world. 
The market has benefited from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) full approval of the Pfizer vaccine as well as the FDA’s approval of booster shots for those at risk or over 65 years old.
Investors on a personal level who saved their stimulus funds are still invested. Larger investors are still betting on a robust economic recovery in the coming months.
While many experts are concerned about higher inflation, some predict some of the strongest economic growth in decades.
According to recent predictions, prices will increase by about 5.3% in 2021. This contrasts with rates of 2.3 per cent in 2019 and 1.7 per cent in 2020.
According to the most recent data, prices have increased by 5.4% over the past 12 months. It would be the highest rate in three decades if that rate persisted for the remainder of the year.
September saw a 0.4% increase in prices, matching early-summer highs. Excluding volatile commodities like food and energy, core consumer prices increased by 0.2%. New cars, computers, and televisions are just a few of the items that continue to see price increases and require semiconductors.
Price increases and product shortages are partly a result of the economy suddenly opening up. The pandemic’s depressed prices had to return to normal.
However, businesses were unable to meet a year’s worth of accumulated consumer demand. Amid significant changes in consumer demand patterns, they also had to revive and retool their supply chains.
And all of this has occurred as production and delivery continue to be slowed down by shipping problems and other issues.
The way and what people eat have changed as a result of COVID. It’s not always clear how these changes will proceed in the future.
However, businesses have been forced to forecast where the demand for their goods will be after everything has settled.
In a typical economy, predicting the future is challenging enough. When an economy had to deal with a resurgence after trying to recover from a pandemic, it became much more difficult.
Consumers will likely continue to experience price changes and shortages for a wide range of goods well into 2022. However, economists believe they should get better over time.
Consumer spending increased by 0.7 per cent in September as opposed to a 0.9 per cent increase in August, indicating that it is still strong.
The market for apparel and sporting goods is still expanding. Food and home goods expenditures remained high.
With semiconductor shortages still causing production and supply issues, buying new cars is still a drag. Spending on goods is still higher than it was before the pandemic.
The pandemic has made the growing imbalance in the larger economy even more apparent. While many households experienced financial success during COVID, many others have regressed to their early 2020 levels.
Whether wage earners could work remotely during the shutdown or had jobs that required them to be on-site during the shutdown accounts for a large portion of the gap.
The loss of a job and the reduction in hours worked were two of the main causes of financial insecurity throughout the pandemic.
According to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census survey data from late September and early October, 9% of American adults (or roughly 20 million people) reported a food shortage in their homes over the previous week.
Renters who have children in their household make up 23% of the approximately 12 million renters who have fallen behind on their rent.
The federal eviction moratorium, which ended on October 3, did not eliminate unpaid rent; rather, it postponed the obligation. And despite this, there were still evictions in some areas of the nation.
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The $46 billion Congress set aside for rental assistance has, in contrast, only partially reached tenants and landlords.
Over a quarter of American adults (63 million people) reported having some difficulty paying bills the week before as of late September.
Additionally, employment is still below pre-pandemic levels. In September, the unemployment rate decreased to 4.8 per cent as some workers found employment or left the workforce.
The growth of jobs continues to be below expectations. In September, employers added about 194,000 more jobs than the forecasters had anticipated (490,000).
(August saw about 366,000 new jobs, which was also much less than anticipated.) Many people think that the growth of the Delta variant is limiting.
The majority of low-wage jobs were lost during the pandemic, and while many openings have returned, many still go unfilled.
