Covid vaccine won’t be an ‘instant stimulus’ to the U.S. economy - economist

CNBC reports that an economist said that a Covid-19 vaccine will not result in an “instant stimulus” to the U.S. economy, which still needs greater fiscal support as its recovery loses momentum.

The vaccine news and better-than-expected U.S. jobs growth in October are “encouraging” developments for the world’s largest economy — but that doesn’t reduce the need for further economic stimulus, said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust.

“On the employment front, we still have 10 million Americans that were working in January that are not working today. And those that remain unemployed are seeing a much longer track back to full employment, so they will continue to need a certain amount of support,” he told CNBC.”

“And the other element that I think is a headwind here in the United States ... is state and local governments whose budgets are in terrible disarray at the moment for loss of revenue, they’re laying people off, cutting services and that’s bad for economic activity.”

That’s why the U.S. can’t depend on a vaccine to “solve all our problems,” said Tannenbaum. 

Economist said the U.S. is not likely to get an economic relief package before the presidential inauguration in January, given deep divisions in Congress.