Banks set aside billions, expecting big consumer loan defaults

Jul 15, 2020
At the end of the first quarter of this year, U.S. consumers were a record $14.3 trillion in debt.
A view of the "Fearless Girl" statue on Wall Street. Americans' indebtedness is affecting banks' balance sheets.
Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

United furlough warnings could be the tea leaves for the airline industry

Jul 9, 2020
United Airlines warned 36,000 employees Wednesday that they could be furloughed in October.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Expanded COVID-19 unemployment money is helping millions of workers pay their bills

Jul 9, 2020
The extra $600 every week is set to run out at the end of this month.
Juanmonino via Getty Images

It's the last month of $600-a-week unemployment benefits. What happens next?

Jul 7, 2020
Unless Congress extends the $600-a-week program, benefits are set to expire at the end of July.
Overall, jobless benefits are pumping about $100 billion per month into the U.S. economy.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

When $600-a-week pandemic unemployment checks run out, what then?

Jun 30, 2020
If Congress doesn't act, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation is set to expire on July 31.
A Florida resident receives an unemployment insurance application in April. Many recipients could be shocked if the temporary extra benefit terminates at the end of July.
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The Fed starts buying corporate bonds

Jun 16, 2020
The Federal Reserve is buying a broad cross-section of bonds to make sure firms have the money they need to weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
A trader walks by the New York Stock Exchange. The Federal Reserve has begun buying corporate bonds as part of the CARES Act.
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Who got those PPP loans? The government doesn't want to tell.

Jun 15, 2020
The Trump administration says the relevant part is that the COVID-19 relief loans complied with the law — not who actually got them.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks at a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing.
Al Drago Pool/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Incomes rose in April, but only because of government relief payments

May 29, 2020
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that personal income rose by 10.5% in April. But without government relief payments, it would have fallen by roughly 5%.
President Trump signs the CARES Act in March. Personal income rose last month mainly due to the relief payments included in the act.

Eight weeks in, businesses face hard choices over PPP loans

May 22, 2020
The federal relief loans can be forgiven if businesses spend 75% on payroll within eight weeks. For some businesses, that's a problem.
A bar in New York sells cocktails to go in March. Small businesses are still struggling eight weeks after the CARES Act became law.
Victor J. Blue/Getty Images

What we've learned so far about where the economy is headed

May 22, 2020
It’s been eight weeks since the CARES Act became law. Will the economic crisis it was meant to combat get as bad as the Great Depression?
There's still a lot that we don't know about how economic recovery will play out.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images