The prospects for a deal in the US Congress to help people suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic have dimmed, with the Senate and House of Representatives in recess and no fresh talks scheduled with President Donald Trump's negotiators.
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After a week that the leaders of the Democratic and the Republican parties spent blaming each other for a breakdown in talks, politicians were not due to reconvene until next month though the leaders of both parties said they could recall their members with 24 hours notice if a deal emerged.
The two sides formally remained about $US2 trillion ($A2.8 trillion) apart, with wide gaps on funding for schools, aid to state and local governments and unemployment pay.
Trump on Thursday added that he opposed any money to help the US Postal Service handle an expected flood of mail-in ballots for the November 3 elections, though he later said he would not veto a bill that included it.
An impasse over $US600-a-week in enhanced unemployment benefits, which expired on July 31, kept financial markets on edge as the Commerce Department reported weaker-than-expected July retail sales growth due to the effects of the spiralling pandemic and the cessation of the enhanced unemployment payments.
The unemployment payments had helped the US economy by buttressing consumer spending, according to Federal Reserve officials and economists.
Trump tried to act alone on Saturday with a memorandum proposing an additional $US300 per week in unemployment, though economists questioned the effectiveness of the limited measure.
Meanwhile, the number of US coronavirus infections approached 5.3 million on Friday, with deaths topping 167,000.
Australian Associated Press