- S&P predicts Biden's infrastructure plan will create 2.3 million jobs by 2024, inject $5.7 trillion into the economy — which would be 10 times what was lost during the recession — and raise per-capita income by $2,400.
State of play: Economists at Goldman Sachs again revised up their outlook for growth this year in a Sunday note to clients, predicting real consumption will grow by 9.5% in Q1 and 12.5% in Q2, citing retailer reopenings, the reversal of winter storm effects and a decline in new COVID-19 infections.
- Further, they note that OpenTable restaurant reservations are nearing 70% of normal nationwide and are back above their pre-crisis level in Texas.
- They also anticipate the pace of fiscal support to U.S. consumers will accelerate by $1 trillion on an annualized basis (or 5% of GDP) for March and the second quarter, relative to the previous six months.
The big picture: "We have to have a big public works program," Lawrence Baxter, director of the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke, tells Axios.
- Baxter compares Biden's proposed new programs to New Deal initiatives like the Blue Ridge Parkway that were created to battle unemployment following the Great Depression.
- "They’re not daring to call it that because that would be a lightning rod," he adds.
Beneath the surface: A historically high number of Americans are struggling despite what appears to be a recovering economy.
- According to the Census Bureau’s latest Household Pulse Survey, more than 9 million renters are behind on their rent payments and at risk of being evicted, while around 11% of renters say they have no confidence they'll be able to pay next month's rent. (That number jumps to 25% for Americans with a high school diploma or less.)
- A recent CoreLogic report finds homebuyers are consistently relocating because of cost, moving from cities like Los Angeles, New York and Miami to cities like Riverside, Calif., Myrtle Beach and Tampa.
- The Census Bureau also found that 19.2% of U.S. adults are expecting a loss of employment income in the next four weeks, while 10.7% said they don't have enough to eat.
