The JobSeeker needs to be permanently fixed, the specialists including economic and social analysts stated.

Australian Council of Social Service CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie says there needs to be income support to help people whilst they try to get more paid work.

From Friday the JobSeeker supplement will be slashed by $100 a fortnight, and Jobkeeper by $200 from Monday. The new rates are effective until the end of March.

JobSeeker is the unemployment payment, it needs to be permanently fixed," Dr Goldie told Sky News.

The JobSeeker needs to be permanently fixed, she emphasised. These are dollars that have really helped to keep the economy going.

President Donald Trump challenged Senate Republicans to approve an increase to US stimulus cheques to $2,000 a person, throwing the upper chamber of Congress into turmoil as leaders of president’s party scrambled to set the course for his final days in office.

Senate Republican leader Mr Mitch McConnell then introduced legislation that would allow for higher payments in conjunction with other measures opposed by Democrats, including a repeal of liability protections for online content for technology companies and the establishment of a commission to study election fraud.

The effort was immediately rejected by Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate. “It will not pass the House and cannot become law — any move like this by Senator McConnell would a blatant attempt to deprive Americans of a $2,000 survival cheque,” he said.


Direct payments essential for the country's economic growth

The US House on Monday followed through on President Trump’s demand and approved an increase in stimulus checks to $2,000 for most Americans, despite the objections of 130 House Republicans who voted against the spending bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged GOP lawmakers to vote with their president, instead of voting to “deny the American people a bigger paycheck.

We are a consumer economy. Putting money into the hands of the American people is a boost to the economy, she said.

The global job market shrank at least two times during the pandemic
setting ratio of the job seeker to work-place as 1:35, and in some cases, even 1:70.

President-elect Joseph R. Biden also said on Monday that he supports increasing the payments to $2,000.

Opponents said the checks aren’t targeted to help the people who need it most.


Shrinking job-market around the world

“Nothing in this bill helps anyone get back to work,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, Texas Republican. “Not a dime for small businesses, not a dime for Main Street. The best way to help struggling families is to get them back to work.

But Mr. Brady's suggestion may be out of time after the OECD reports indicated that the global job market shrank at least two times during the pandemic setting ratio of the job seeker to work-place as 1:35, and in some cases, even 1:70 compared to 1:15 and 1:30 respectively in 2019.

In the developed economies, it takes about four to eleven months to find a job that would pay off the bills of an individual and about two to four years to find a job suitable to the profession. In 2021, the job market is estimated to shrank at least additional 1.1 times, according to economists.



The cash stimulus should automatic based on the unemployment rate and the job accessibility ratios

The stimulus payments should be issued automatically, based on certain economic indicators such as the unemployment rate, until there is enough evidence that the economy is recovering, the group of mostly left-leaning economists said in an open letter organized by the Economic Security Project and The Justice Collaborative.

"The first round of economic impact payments were a lifeline that helped some get by for a few weeks," the economists wrote. Even after businesses start to re-open and jobs begin to come back, there will be significant economic fallout, and demand will continue to lag if people do not have money to spend.

The letter was signed by 153 economists, including Jason Furman, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama Administration; Claudia Sahm, a former Fed economist; Darrick Hamilton from the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University; and Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director at the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. Some of the signatories are advising the campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

But several Conservative economists agreed with this assessment reminding that the banks' unwillingness to lend to small businesses is also causing a damage to the economy.