This table shows the amount of unemployment insurance and "Other" transfer payments since January 2020 (pre-crisis level). The increase in "Other" was mostly due to parts of the relief acts including direct payments.
Note: Not in the table below, but Social Security and Medicare payments haven't increased significantly from the pre-recession levels. Social Security increased from $1,065 billion SAAR in Jan 2020 to $1,113 billion SAAR in July 2021. Medicare increased from $807 billion to $821 billion. Medicaid increased significantly from $603 billion to $760 billion.
But most of the increase in transfer payments - compared to the levels prior to the crisis - is from unemployment insurance and "other" (includes direct payments).
| Selected Transfer Payments Billions of dollars, SAAR | ||
|---|---|---|
| Other | Unemployment Insurance | |
| Jan-20 | $511 | $26 |
| Feb-20 | $506 | $26 |
| Mar-20 | $516 | $67 |
| Apr-20 | $3,393 | $435 |
| May-20 | $1,373 | $1,287 |
| Jun-20 | $743 | $1,396 |
| Jul-20 | $750 | $1,366 |
| Aug-20 | $697 | $612 |
| Sep-20 | $950 | $325 |
| Oct-20 | $714 | $296 |
| Nov-20 | $580 | $285 |
| Dec-20 | $604 | $319 |
| Jan-21 | $2,317 | $574 |
| Feb-21 | $735 | $558 |
| Mar-21 | $4,706 | $566 |
| Apr-21 | $1,344 | $516 |
| May-21 | $802 | $492 |
| Jun-21 | $736 | $433 |
| Jul-21 | $907 | $381 |