White House coronavirus aid negotiators have not spoken to top democrats in Congress today

In a Fox News interview, the US Senate Republican leader McConnell says that the White House coronavirus aid negotiators have not spoken to top democrats in Congress today.

Market implications

“If Congress underestimates the economic tidal wave that is coming, even by the smallest of margins, we are all going to be swept away,” said Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs.

Already, the US Labor Department has reported that some 1.5 million state and local government jobs were lost from February to June, adding to the tens of millions of private-sector jobs that have been shed nationwide.

For the moment, struggling small businesses are running out of their initial aid with no replenishment in sight. State and local governments face mounting budget shortages that could spur significant layoffs this fall. And schools are waiting on much-needed funding to open safely.

Struggling households bolstered by previous direct federal payments may get no more cash anytime soon. And expanded unemployment benefits may drop substantially — even if Trump’s move survives in court — while millions remain out of work. Trump’s payroll tax deferral could also prove difficult to implement and is, at least for now, only a temporary reprieve rather than a permanent cut,

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Perhaps we are already starting to see the markets finally starting to read between the lines. 

The US benchmarks are markedly lower in recent trade, now losing some 0.5% in the final hour of trade as scepticism mounts.