South Carolina National Guardsmen, veterans and their families line up to meet potential employers at a military job fair on January 19, 2012 in Columbia, South Carolina. South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates iin the country at 9.9 percent, with the veteran unemployment rate even higher, estimated at about 13 percent. The poor state economy and high unemployment is expected to be a key consideration for South Carolinans going to the polls in Saturday’s Republican primary.
Photo: John Moore/Getty Images
New numbers from the state Department of Labor show that, while the rest of the country has only recovered 40 percent of the jobs lost since 2008, New York City has gained them all back, having added 79,000 private-sector jobs in May. However, unemployment also rose to 9.7 percent in May (from April’s 9.5 percent). The explanation? Increased job growth means increased job seekers, many of whom had previously given up looking for work, back when there were nojobs.
President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress will be April 28. We reported several weeks ago that the White House was looking at scheduling Biden’s speech to Congress around his 100th day in office. April 28 is Biden’s 99th day as president.
… The crowd for this Biden speech is expected to be far smaller than it usually would be for a joint session. Multiple senior aides tell us that only several hundred people would be allowed in the House chamber, and there will be strict spacing requirements on the floor.
According to a Capitol official involved in the planning, “there will be limits on the number of members and senators allowed to attend,” and lawmakers will be seated both on the floor and galleries above. Like other presidential addresses, this Biden speech will be designated a “National Security Special Event.” This formally puts the U.S. Secret Service in charge of “developing, exercising, and implementing security operations” for the event.
Your plan to go “one and done” just got more complicated
Federal health agencies on Tuesday will call for an immediate pause in use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination, officials briefed on the decision said.
All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition, the officials said.
Nearly seven million people in the United States have received Johnson & Johnson shots so far, and roughly nine million more doses have been shipped out to the states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While the move is framed as a recommendation to health practitioners in the states, the federal government is expected to pause administration of the vaccine at all federally run vaccination sites. Federal officials expect that state health officials will take that as a strong signal to do the same.
Scientists with the Food and Drug Administration and C.D.C. will jointly examine possible links between the vaccine and the disorder and determine whether the F.D.A. should continue to authorize use of the vaccine for all adults or limit the authorization. An emergency meeting of the C.D.C.’s outside advisory committee has been scheduled for Wednesday, officials said.
Fallout from the killing of Daunte Wright hits the sports world
ESPN reporting with @wojespn: In the aftermath of a police shooting that’s caused unrest in Minneapolis, conversations are ongoing about the possible postponement of the Nets-Timberwolves game tonight. The Twins-Red Sox game has been postponed. Decision expected this afternoon.