GOP senator: I may not support more stimulus because of the 'great' 11 percent unemployment

On Friday, NBC News reported that although President Donald Trump remains interested in a second round of stimulus payments, many Senate Republicans are not.

One of these skeptical Republicans is Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who told reporters that he wanted to wait and see in light of the "great" new unemployment numbers.

"Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said the 'direct stimulus checks are going to depend on how the economy is doing' and noted the 'great unemployment numbers' of June, when the rate fell to 11.1 percent," reported Sahil Kapur and Haley Talbot. "'So if it turns out the economy is recovering, that's a good thing and direct stimulus checks may not be necessary,' he added."

An unemployment rate of 11.1 percent is still higher than the peak of the former most severe postwar recession in 1982, when unemployment topped out at 10.8 percent. And although the numbers are trending in the right direction, the Congressional Budget Office has warned that jobless numbers may not return to pre-COVID levels for a decade.