Our Very Weird Economic Recovery

After the passage of Joe Biden’s big coronavirus stimulus package, economists expected to see a huge jobs report in May. In the end, only a quarter of the expected 1 million new jobs materialized. Why is that? And what are the chances that $1.9 trillion in stimulus funding is backfiring?

Guest: Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent

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Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Davis Land, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz and Carmel Delshad.
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After the passage of Joe Biden’s big coronavirus stimulus package, economists expected to see a huge jobs report in May. In the end, only a quarter of the expected 1 million new jobs materialized. Why is that? And what are the chances that $1.9 trillion in stimulus funding is backfiring?

Guest: Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Davis Land, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz and Carmel Delshad.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices