They seem to have worked, but have also helped many who didn’t actually need the money. The ARP checks closely followed the $600 payments from January, which came nine months after the $1,200 payments from the pandemic’s early days. That accounted for nearly all of the $422 billion set aside. Over the following months, about 169 million people received up to $1,400 each. The third round of relief payments started back in March, courtesy of the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Relief payments were intended to ease COVID’s economic impact and support the economy in the process. Economic Recovery For Some READ MORE: DPW Will Shift To Bi-Weekly Recycling Collection Starting Jan. But many clues point to where things are heading. But will the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) be sending out another stimulus check in 2021? A few places, including California, have recognized the need for more help and provided additional payments. The federal unemployment bonus ended over two months ago, but millions of people remain short of food and behind on bills. But many others still struggle to find suitable work.
Many people are even choosing not to return to the workforce for the time being. Still, shortages and inflation persist, and some people haven’t caught up to where they were early last year, even as unemployment nears pre-pandemic levels, with jobs widely available in certain sectors.
The economy as a whole has surpassed where it was before the pandemic. President Biden has more strongly pushed to encourage vaccines.
The Delta variant is still causing positive cases, albeit at a reduced rate, and the Omicron variant is now starting to show up across the country. ( CBS Baltimore ) - The pandemic continues, long after COVID first shut down the economy in early 2020.