Thursday’s jobless claims showed that the United States continues to shed jobs at an intolerably high rate, with the weekly moving average of unemployment claims totaling 1.6 million. While last month’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment report showed a surprising 2.5 million jobs were added to the economy in May, more than 30 million people continue to collect some type of unemployment insurance benefit, indicating the economy has a long way to go before it is restored to the robust pre-pandemic employment landscape.

This is why it is essential that policymakers act in a way that reflects the unprecedented nature of this crisis, when the economy has been put on ice to protect public health. Although states have begun to reopen, a full economic recovery is in no way assured; uncertainty regarding the looming public health dangers will continue to mute economic confidence.