The American Rescue Plan Implementation Team and the Domestic Policy Council on Monday released their interim American Rescue Plan Equity Report.
It details efforts to ensure equity in 32 Major American Rescue Plan Policies that represent nearly $900 billion or 60 percent of American Rescue Plan funds.
The report, together with ongoing economic statistics, claims that the American Rescue Plan spurred the most equitable economic recovery in U.S. history.
The report also outlines lessons learned and areas for continued work and collaboration with external partners to build on progress, including through the release of the ARP Equity Learning Agenda.
Since its passage in the Congress, the American Rescue Plan helped power a historic recovery which led to the largest job growth ever in a calendar year, saw unemployment claims decline from nearly 20 million when President Joe Biden took office to close to 1 million, and unemployment rate easing to 3.6 percent, the report says.
2021 featured the fastest calendar year of decline in the number of unemployed Black workers on record and the largest calendar year drop in the unemployment rate (2.9 percentage points) since 1983 — down to 5.9 percent in April, below pre-pandemic levels.
Black employment is 233,000 above pre-pandemic levels and Black Teen Unemployment is below its pre-pandemic rate.
Youth Unemployment saw record calendar year drop while Women’s Unemployment has fallen from a peak of 16.1 percent in April 2020 to 3.5 percent.
Unemployment is down also in Hispanic Women, Hispanic Teen, and Asian American communities.
The number of Americans who were long-term unemployed fell by 2.8 million in the 12 months after the American Rescue Plan passed – the largest 12-month drop on record.
More jobs were created in rural communities in 2021 than in any other year in the last two decades, the report says.
The American Rescue Plan Policies helped ensure stronger financial security for lower income families, according to the report.
In 2021, a record number of Americans applied to start 5.4 million new businesses, reflecting a significant recovery for the Smallest Business sector.
Under American Rescue Plan, $130 billion was provided to keep schools open safely and address students’ academic and mental health needs.
Thanks to the resources provided by the American Rescue Plan, nearly 100 percent of schools are now open safely for full-time, in-person instruction.
The American Rescue Plan’s expansion of insurance subsidies spurred record number of enrollments into health insurance coverage.
$3 Billion in grants was distributed by the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to revitalize local economies.
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