Author: staff

Eduardo Rovetto poses outside his restaurant Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge on May 8, 2021, in Stowe, Vermont. Rovetto says he would like to hire between 15 and 20 workers before what is expected to be a busy summer tourist season, but he’s not getting enough interest. Many states, including Vermont, are beginning to push those who lost jobs during the pandemic back into the workforce. (Wilson Ring/AP)

The aid is part of Biden’s larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that became law in March. Administration officials said payments could begin to go out in the coming days to eligible governments, allowing state, local, territorial and tribal officials to offset the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement came after the government reported Friday that just 266,000 jobs were added in April — a miss that the president felt obligated to address from the White House on Monday.

The sectors of the economy that face the most difficulty in regaining all their lost jobs are the service sectors that were hit hardest by the pandemic recession: Restaurants, bars, hotels, gyms, and entertainment venues. Though college graduates often take such jobs temporarily, they typically seek out careers in professional or technical fields, where job losses were far less severe last year and are now recovering.