Stimulus checks: Many Ohioans paying off debt, saving money
By Cornelius Frolik - Dayton Daily News, Ohio (TNS)
Many Ohioans are using their most recent stimulus checks to pay off debt or add to their savings, according to recent studies.
A Household Pulse Survey conducted between Jan. 6 and Jan. 18 found that more than half of Ohioans who recently received a stimulus check ― which would be part of the second round of payments ― would use the money to pay off debt (54%).
More than a quarter of Ohioans (28%) said they would mostly save the money, and one in six residents expected to mostly spend it.
US lost 140,000 jobs in December
The US economy lost 140,000 jobs in December, according to monthly figures released Friday by the Department of Labor. The job loss, driven by the winter surge of the coronavirus pandemic, is the first negative monthly total in seven months, although job growth had been slackening since the summer.
The report was significantly worse than analysts’ forecasts of 50,000 new jobs, which would itself have been a sign of growing social misery. The United States remains with 9.8 million fewer jobs than at the start of the pandemic, when the US experienced the most rapid employment decline in its history, even when compared to the Great Depression.