As virus rages, US economy struggles to sustain a recovery

Not while the viral outbreak still rages and Congress remains deadlocked over providing more relief to tens of millions of people thrown out of work and to state and local governments whose revenue has withered.Every week, roughly 1 million new Americans are applying for unemployment benefits — a depth of job insecurity not seen in any single week during the depths of the 2007-2009 Great Recession.Economists say that as many businesses have reopened and consumers have begun shopping and spending more, the picture is beginning to brighten, if only fitfully. “The risk of business failures from repeated closures is high, and the probability of permanent job losses rises with each successive shutdown which could result in permanent damage to the labor market and the economy.’’The Conference Board, a business research group, reported this week that consumer confidence has tumbled to its lowest level since 2014.And in survey results released this week by the National Association for Business Economics, two-thirds of the economists who were polled said they thought the U.S. economy remains in recession. Employers slashed more than 22 million jobs — a record total, by far — in March and April.Since then, the job market and the economy have been rebounding as businesses slowly reopened.